SKETCH OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789, AS CONNECTED
WITH THE HISTORY OF PERSECUTIONS 489
Massacre of prisoners 496
Death of Louis XVI and other members of the Royal Family 499
Dreadful scenes in La Vendee 501
Scenes at Marseilles and Lyons 501
The installation of the Goddess of Reason 506
Fall of Danton, Robespierre, Marat and other Jacobins 508
BOOK OF MARTYRS
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN MARTYRS TO THE FIRST GENERAL PERSECUTION UNDER
NERO.
The history of the church may almost be said to be a history of the
trials and sufferings of its members, as experienced at the hands of
wicked men. At one time, persecution, as waged against the friends of
Christ, was confined to those without; at another, schisms and divisions
have arrayed brethren of the same name against each other, and scenes of
cruelty and woe have been exhibited within the sanctuary, rivalling in
horror the direst cruelties ever inflicted by pagan or barbarian
fanaticism. This, however, instead of implying any defect in the gospel
system, which breathes peace and love; only pourtrays in darker colours
the deep and universal depravity of the human heart. Pure and
unsophisticated morality, especially when attempted to be inculcated on
mankind, as essential to their preserving an interest with their
Creator, have constantly met with opposition. It was this which produced
the premature death of John the Baptist. It was the cutting charge of
adultery and incest, which excited the resentment of Herodias, who never
ceased to persecute him, until she had accomplished his destruction. The
same observation is equally applicable to the Jewish doctors, in their
treatment of our blessed Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST. In the sudden
martyrdom of John the Baptist, and the crucifixion of our Lord, the
history of christian martyrdom must be admitted to commence; and from
these, as a basis for the subsequent occurrences, we may fairly trace
the origin of that hostility, which produced so lavish an effusion of
christian blood, and led to so much slaughter in the progressive state
of christianity.
As it is not our business to enlarge upon our Saviour's history, either
before or after his crucifixion, we shall only find it necessary to
remind our readers of the discomfiture of the Jews by his subsequent
resurrection. Though one apostle had betrayed him; though another had
denied him, under the solemn sanction of an oath; and though the rest
had forsaken him, unless we may except "the disciple who was known unto
the high-priest;" the history of his resurrection gave a new direction
to all their hearts, and, after the mission of the Holy Spirit, imparted
new confidence to their minds. The powers with which they were endued
emboldened them to proclaim his name, to the confusion of the Jewish
rulers, and the astonishment of Gentile proselytes.
_I. St. Stephen_
ST. STEPHEN suffered the next in order. His death was occasioned by the
faithful manner in which he preached the gospel to the betrayers and
murderers of Christ. To such a degree of madness were they excited, that
they cast him out of the city and stoned him to death. The time when he
suffered is generally supposed to have been at the passover which
succeeded to that of our Lord's crucifixion, and to the aera of his
ascension, in the following spring.
Upon this a great persecution was raised against all who professed their
belief in Christ as the Messiah, or as a prophet. We are immediately
told by St. Luke, that "there was a great persecution against the
church, which was at Jerusalem;" and that "they were all scattered
abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the
apostles."
About two thousand christians, with Nicanor, one of the seven deacons,
suffered martyrdom during the "persecution which arose about Stephen."
_II. James the Great._
The next martyr we meet with, according to St. Luke, in the History of
the Apostles' Acts, was James the son of Zebedee, the elder brother of
John, and a relative of our Lord; for his mother Salome was
cousin-german to the Virgin Mary. It was not until ten years after the
death of Stephen, that the second martyrdom took place; for no sooner
had Herod Agrippa been appointed governor of Judea, than, with a view to
ingratiate himself with them, he raised a sharp persecution against the
christians, and determined to make an effectual blow, by striking at
their leaders. The account given us by an eminent primitive writer,
Clemens Alexandrinus, ought not to be overlooked; that, as James was led
to the place of martyrdom, his accuser was brought to repent of his
conduct by the apostle's extraordinary courage and undauntedness, and
fell down at his feet to request his pardon, professing himself a
christian, and resolving that James should not receive the crown of
martyrdom alone. Hence they were both beheaded at the same time. Thus
did the first apostolic martyr cheerfully and resolutely receive that
cup, which he had told our Saviour he was ready to drink. Timon and
Parmenas suffered martyrdom about the same time; the one at Phillippi,
and the other in Macedonia. These events took place A. D. 44.
_III. Philip._
Was born at Bethsaida, in Galilee, and was the first called by the name
of "Disciple." He laboured diligently in Upper Asia, and suffered
martyrdom at Heliopolis, in Phrygia. He was scourged, thrown into
prison, and afterwards crucified, A. D. 54.
_IV. Matthew_,
Whose occupation was that of a toll-gatherer, was born at Nazareth. He
wrote his gospel in Hebrew, which was afterwards translated into Greek
by James the Less. The scene of his labors was Parthia, and Ethiopia, in
which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd
in the city of Nadabah, A. D. 60.
_V. James the Less_,
Is supposed by some to have been the brother of our Lord, by a former
wife of Joseph. This is very doubtful, and accords too much with the
catholic superstition, that Mary never had any other children except our
Saviour. He was elected to the oversight of the churches of Jerusalem;
and was the author of the epistle ascribed to James in the sacred canon.
At the age of ninety-four, he was beat and stoned by the Jews; and
finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller's club.
_VI. Matthias_,
Of whom less is known than of most of the other disciples, was elected
to fill the vacant place of Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem and then
beheaded.
_VII. Andrew_,
Was the brother of Peter. He preached the gospel to many Asiatic
nations; but on his arrival at Edessa, he was taken and crucified on a
cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground.
Hence the derivation of the term, St. Andrew's Cross.
_VIII. St. Mark_,
Was born of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. He is supposed to have
been converted to christianity by Peter, whom he served as an
amanuensis, and under whose inspection he wrote his gospel in the Greek
language. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria, at the
great solemnity of Serapis their idol, ending his life under their
merciless hands.
_IX. Peter_,
Was born at Bethsaida, in Galilee. He was by occupation a fisherman.
Christ gave him a name which in Syriac implies a rock. Peter is supposed
to have suffered martyrdom at Rome, during the reign of the emperor
Nero, being crucified with his head downward, at his own request.
[It is, however, very uncertain, whether Peter ever visited Rome at all.
The evidence rather favouring the supposition that he ended his days in
some other country.--_Ed._]
_X. Paul_,
The great apostle of the Gentiles, was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, a
native of Tarsus in Cilicia, and before his conversion was called Saul.
After suffering various persecutions at Jerusalem, Iconium, Lystra,
Phillippi and Thessalonica, he was carried prisoner to Rome, where he
continued for two years, and was then released. He afterwards visited
the churches of Greece and Rome, and preached the gospel in Spain and
France, but returning to Rome, he was apprehended by order of Nero, and
beheaded.
_XI. Jude_,
The brother of James, was commonly called Thaddeus. He was crucified at
Edessa, A. D. 72.
_XII. Bartholomew_,
Preached in several countries, and having translated the gospel of
Matthew into the language of India, he propagated it in that country. He
was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient
idolaters.
_XIII. Thomas_,
Called Didymus, preached the gospel in Parthia and India, where exciting
the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust through
with a spear.
_XIV. Luke_,
The evangelist, was the author of the gospel which goes under his name.
He travelled with Paul through various countries, and is supposed to
have been hanged on an olive tree, by the idolatrous priests of Greece.
_XV. Simon_,
Surnamed Zelotes, preached the gospel in Mauritania, Africa, and even in
Britain, which latter country he was crucified, A. D. 74.
_XVI. John_,
The "beloved disciple," was brother to James the Great. The churches of
Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and Thyatira, were
founded by him. From Ephesus he was ordered to be sent to Rome, where it
is affirmed he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. He escaped by
miracle, without injury. Domitian afterwards banished him to the Isle of
Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Nerva, the successor of
Domitian, recalled him. He was the only apostle who escaped a violent
death.
_XVII. Barnabas_,
Was of Cyprus, but of Jewish descent, his death is supposed to have
taken place about A. D. 73.
CHAPTER II.
THE TEN PRIMITIVE PERSECUTIONS.
_The First Persecution under Nero, A. D. 67._
The first persecution of the church took place in the year 67, under
Nero, the sixth emperor of Rome. This monarch reigned for the space of
five years, with tolerable credit to himself, but then gave way to the
greatest extravagancy of temper, and to the most atrocious barbarities.
Among other diabolical whims, he ordered that the city of Rome should be
set on fire, which order was executed by his officers, guards, and
servants. While the imperial city was in flames, he went up to the tower
of Macaenas, played upon his harp, sung the song of the burning of Troy,
and openly declared, "That he wished the ruin of all things before his
death." Besides the noble pile, called the circus, many other palaces
and houses were consumed; several thousands perished in the flames, were
smothered in the smoke, or buried beneath the ruins.
This dreadful conflagration continued nine days; when Nero, finding that
his conduct was greatly blamed, and a severe odium cast upon him,
determined to lay the whole upon the christians, at once to excuse
himself, and have an opportunity of glutting his sight with new
cruelties. This was the occasion of the first persecution; and the
barbarities exercised on the christians were such as even excited the
commisseration of the Romans themselves. Nero even refined upon cruelty,
and contrived all manner of punishments for the christians that the most
infernal imagination could design. In particular, he had some sewed up
in the skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs till they expired;
and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees,
and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them. This
persecution was general throughout the whole Roman empire; but it rather
increased than diminished the spirit of christianity. In the course of
it, St. Paul and St. Peter were martyred.
To their names may be added, Erastus, chamberlain of Corinth;
Aristarchus, the Macedonian; and Trophimus, an Ephesian, converted by
St. Paul, and fellow-labourer with him; Joseph, commonly called
Barsabas; and Ananias, bishop of Damascus; each of the seventy.
_The Second Persecution, under Domitian, A. D. 81._
The emperor Domitian, who was naturally inclined to cruelty, first slew
his brother, and then raised the second persecution against the
christians. In his rage he put to death some of the Roman senators, some
through malice; and others to confiscate their estates. He then
commanded all the lineage of David to be put to death.
Among the numerous martyrs that suffered during this persecution was
Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, who was crucified; and St. John, who was
boiled in oil, and afterward banished to Patmos. Flavia, the daughter of
a Roman senator, was likewise banished to Pontus; and a law was made,
"That no christian, once brought before the tribunal, should be exempted
from punishment without renouncing his religion."
A variety of fabricated tales were, during this reign, composed in order
to injure the christians. Such was the infatuation of the pagans, that,
if famine, pestilence, or earthquakes afflicted any of the Roman
provinces, it was laid upon the christians. These persecutions among the
christians increased the number of informers and many, for the sake of
gain, swore away the lives of the innocent.
Another hardship was, that, when any christians were brought before the
magistrates, a test oath was proposed, when, if they refused to take it,
death was pronounced against them; and if they confessed themselves
christians, the sentence was the same.
The following were the most remarkable among the numerous martyrs who
suffered during this persecution.
Dionysius, the Areopagite, was an Athenian by birth, and educated in all
the useful and ornamental literature of Greece. He then travelled to
Egypt to study astronomy, and made very particular observations on the
great and supernatural eclipse, which happened at the time of our
Saviour's crucifixion.
The sanctity of his conversation, and the purity of his manners,
recommended him so strongly to the christians in general, that he was
appointed bishop of Athens.
Nicodemus, a benevolent christian of some distinction, suffered at Rome
during the rage of Domitian's persecution.
Protasius and Gervasius were martyred at Milan.
Timothy was the celebrated disciple of St. Paul, and bishop of Ephesus,
where he zealously governed the church till A. D. 97. At this period, as
the pagans were about to celebrate a feast called Catagogion, Timothy,
meeting the procession, severely reproved them for their ridiculous
idolatry, which so exasperated the people, that they fell upon him with
their clubs, and beat him in so dreadful a manner, that he expired of
the bruises two days after.
_The Third Persecution, under Trajan, A. D. 108._
Nerva, succeeding Domitian, gave a respite to the sufferings of the
christians; but reigning only thirteen months, his successor Trajan, in
the tenth year of his reign A. D. 108, began the third persecution
against the christians. While the persecution raged, Pliny 2d, a heathen
philosopher wrote to the emperor in favor of the Christians; to whose
epistle Trajan returned this indecisive answer: "The christians ought
not to be sought after, but when brought before the magistracy, they
should be punished." Trajan, however, soon after wrote to Jerusalem, and
gave orders to his officers to exterminate the stock of David; in
consequence of which, all that could be found of that race were put to
death.
Symphorosa, a widow, and her seven sons, were commanded by the emperor
to sacrifice to the heathen deities. She was carried to the temple of
Hercules, scourged, and hung up, for some time, by the hair of her head:
then being taken down, a large stone was fastened to her neck, and she
was thrown into the river, where she expired. With respect to the sons,
they were fastened to seven posts, and being drawn up by pullies, their
limbs were dislocated: these tortures, not affecting their resolution,
they were martyred by stabbing, except Eugenius, the youngest, who was
sawed asunder.
Phocas, bishop of Pontus, refusing to sacrifice to Neptune, was, by the
immediate order of Trajan, cast first into a hot lime-kiln, and then
thrown into a scalding bath till he expired.
Trajan likewise commanded the martyrdom of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch.
This holy man was the person whom, when an infant, Christ took into his
arms, and showed to his disciples, as one that would be a pattern of
humility and innocence. He received the gospel afterward from St. John
the Evangelist, and was exceedingly zealous in his mission. He boldly
vindicated the faith of Christ before the emperor, for which he was cast
into prison, and tormented in a most cruel manner. After being
dreadfully scourged, he was compelled to hold fire in his hands, and, at
the same time, papers clipped in oil were put to his sides, and set on
fire. His flesh was then torn with red hot pincers, and at last he was
despatched by being torn to pieces by wild beasts.
Trajan being succeeded by Adrian, the latter continued this third
persecution with as much severity as his predecessor. About this time
Alexander, bishop of Rome, with his two deacons, were martyred; as were
Quirinus and Hernes, with their families; Zenon, a Roman nobleman, and
about ten thousand other christians.
In Mount Ararat many were crucified, crowned with thorns, and spears run
into their sides, in imitation of Christ's passion. Eustachius, a brave
and successful Roman commander, was by the emperor ordered to join in an
idolatrous sacrifice to celebrate some of his own victories; but his
faith (being a christian in his heart) was so much greater than his
vanity, that he nobly refused it. Enraged at the denial, the ungrateful
emperor forgot the service of this skilful commander, and ordered him
and his whole family to be martyred.
At the martyrdom of Faustines and Jovita, brothers and citizens of
Brescia, their torments were so many, and their patience so great, that
Calocerius, a pagan, beholding them, was struck with admiration, and
exclaimed in a kind of ecstacy, "Great is the God of the christians!"
for which he was apprehended, and suffered a similar fate.
Many other similar cruelties and rigours were exercised against the
christians, until Quadratus, bishop of Athens, made a learned apology
in their favour before the emperor, who happened to be there and
Aristides, a philosopher of the same city, wrote an elegant epistle,
which caused Adrian to relax in his severities, and relent in their
favour.
Adrian dying A. D. 138, was succeeded by Antoninus Pius, one of the most
amiable monarchs that ever reigned, and who stayed the persecution
against the Christians.
_The fourth persecution, under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, A. D. 162._
This commenced A. D. 162, under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Philosophus, a
strong pagan.
The cruelties used in this persecution were such, that many of the
spectators shuddered with horror at the sight, and were astonished at
the intrepidity of the sufferers. Some of the martyrs were obliged to
pass, with their already wounded feet, over thorns, nails, sharp shells,
&c. upon their points, others were scourged till their sinews and veins
lay bare, and after suffering the most excruciating tortures that could
be devised, they were destroyed by the most terrible deaths.
Germanicus, a young man, but a true christian, being delivered to the
wild beasts on account of his faith, behaved with such astonishing
courage, that several pagans became converts to a faith which inspired
such fortitude.
Polycarp, the venerable bishop of Smyrna, hearing that persons were
seeking for him, escaped, but was discovered by a child. After feasting
the guards who apprehended him, he desired an hour in prayer, which
being allowed, he prayed with such fervency, that his guards repented
that they had been instrumental in taking him. He was, however, carried
before the proconsul, condemned, and burnt in the market-place. Twelve
other christians, who had been intimate with Polycarp, were soon after
martyred.
The circumstances attending the execution of this venerable old man, as
they were of no common nature, so it would be injurious to the credit of
our professed history of martyrdom to pass them over in silence. It was
observed by the spectators, that, after finishing his prayer at the
stake, to which he was only tied, but not nailed as usual, as he assured
them he should stand immoveable, the flames, on their kindling the
fagots, encircled his body, like an arch, without touching him; and the
executioner, on seeing this, was ordered to pierce him with a sword,
when so great a quantity of blood flowed out as extinguished the fire.
But his body, at the instigation of the enemies of the gospel,
especially Jews, was ordered to be consumed in the pile, and the request
of his friends, who wished to give it christian burial, rejected. They
nevertheless collected his bones and as much of his remains as possible,
and caused them to be decently interred.
Metrodorus, a minister, who preached boldly; and Pionius, who made some
excellent apologies for the christian faith; were likewise burnt. Carpus
and Papilus, two worthy christians, and Agathonica, a pious woman,
suffered martyrdom at Pergamopolis, in Asia.
Felicitatis, an illustrious Roman lady, of a considerable family and
the most shining virtues, was a devout christian. She had seven sons,
whom she had educated with the most exemplary piety.
Januarius, the eldest, was scourged, and pressed to death with weights;
Felix and Philip, the two next had their brains dashed out with clubs;
Silvanus, the fourth, was murdered by being thrown from a precipice; and
the three younger sons, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martial, were beheaded.
The mother was beheaded with the same sword as the three latter.
Justin, the celebrated philosopher, fell a martyr in this persecution.
He was a native of Neapolis, in Samaria, and was born A. D. 103. Justin
was a great lover of truth, and a universal scholar; he investigated the
Stoic and Peripatetic philosophy, and attempted the Pythagorean; but the
behaviour of one of its professors disgusting him, he applied himself to
the Platonic, in which he took great delight. About the year 133, when
he was thirty years of age, he became a convert to christianity, and
then, for the first time, perceived the real nature of truth.
He wrote an elegant epistle to the Gentiles, and employed his talents in
convincing the Jews of the truth of the christian rites; spending a
great deal of time in travelling, till he took up his abode in Rome, and
fixed his habitation upon the Viminal mount.
He kept a public school, taught many who afterward became great men, and
wrote a treatise to confute heresies of all kinds. As the pagans began
to treat the christians with great severity, Justin wrote his first
apology in their favour. This piece displays great learning and genius,
and occasioned the emperor to publish an edict in favor of the
christians.
Soon after, he entered into frequent contests with Crescens, a person of
a vicious life and conversation, but a celebrated cynic philosopher; and
his arguments appeared so powerful, yet disgusting to the cynic, that he
resolved on, and in the sequel accomplished, his destruction.
The second apology of Justin, upon certain severities, gave Crescens the
cynic an opportunity of prejudicing the emperor against the writer of
it; upon which Justin, and six of his companions, were apprehended.
Being commanded to sacrifice to the pagan idols, they refused, and were
condemned to be scourged, and then beheaded; which sentence was executed
with all imaginable severity.
Several were beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to the image of Jupiter;
in particular Concordus, a deacon of the city of Spolito.
Some of the restless northern nations having risen in arms against Rome,
the emperor marched to encounter them. He was, however, drawn into an
ambuscade, and dreaded the loss of his whole army. Enveloped with
mountains, surrounded by enemies, and perishing with thirst, the pagan
deities were invoked in vain; when the men belonging to the militine, or
thundering legion, who were all christians, were commanded to call upon
their God for succour. A miraculous deliverance immediately ensued; a
prodigious quantity of rain fell, which, being caught by the men, and
filling their dykes, afforded a sudden and astonishing relief. It
appears, that the storm which miraculously flashed in the faces of the
enemy, so intimidated them, that part deserted to the Roman army; the
rest were defeated, and the revolted provinces entirely recovered.
This affair occasioned the persecution to subside for some time, at
least in those parts immediately under the inspection of the emperor;
but we find that it soon after raged in France, particularly at Lyons,
where the tortures to which many of the christians were put, almost
exceed the powers of description.
The principal of these martyrs were Vetius Agathus, a young man;
Blandina, a christian lady, of a weak constitution; Sanctus, a deacon of
Vienna; red hot plates of brass were placed upon the tenderest parts of
his body; Biblias, a weak woman, once an apostate. Attalus, of Pergamus;
and Pothinus, the venerable bishop of Lyons, who was ninety years of
age. Blandina, on the day when she and the three other champions were
first brought into the amphitheatre, she was suspended on a piece of
wood fixed in the ground, and exposed as food for the wild beasts; at
which time, by her earnest prayers, she encouraged others. But none of
the wild beasts would touch her, so that she was remanded to prison.
When she was again produced for the third and last time, she was
accompanied by Ponticus, a youth of fifteen and the constancy of their
faith so enraged the multitude, that neither the sex of the one nor the
youth of the other were respected, being exposed to all manner of
punishments and tortures. Being strengthened by Blandina, he persevered
unto death; and she, after enduring all the torments heretofore
mentioned, was at length slain with the sword.
When the christians, upon these occasions, received martyrdom, they were
ornamented, and crowned with garlands of flowers; for which they, in
heaven, received eternal crowns of glory.
The torments were various; and, exclusive of those already mentioned,
the martyrs of Lyons were compelled to sit in red-hot iron chairs till
their flesh broiled. This was inflicted with peculiar severity on
Sanctus, already mentioned, and some others. Some were sewed up in nets,
and thrown on the horns of wild bulls; and the carcases of those who
died in prison, previous to the appointed time of execution, were thrown
to dogs. Indeed, so far did the malice of the pagans proceed that they
set guards over the bodies while the beasts were devouring them, lest
the friends of the deceased should get them away by stealth; and the
offals left by the dogs were ordered to be burnt.
The martyrs of Lyons, according to the best accounts we could obtain,
who suffered for the gospel, were forty-eight in number, and their
executions happened in the year of Christ 177.
Epipodius and Alexander were celebrated for their great friendship, and
their christian union with each other. The first was born at Lyons, the
latter at Greece. Epipodius, being compassionated by the governor of
Lyons, and exhorted to join in their festive pagan worship, replied,
"Your pretended tenderness is actually cruelty; and the agreeable life
you describe is replete with everlasting death Christ suffered for us,
that our pleasures should be immortal, and hath prepared for his
followers an eternity of bliss. The frame of man being composed of two
parts, body and soul, the first, as mean and perishable, should be
rendered subservient to the interests of the last. Your idolatrous
feasts may gratify the mortal, but they injure the immortal part; that
cannot therefore be enjoying life which destroys the most valuable
moiety of your frame. Your pleasures lead to eternal death, and our
pains to perpetual happiness." Epipodius was severely beaten, and then
put to the rack, upon which being stretched, his flesh was torn with
iron hooks. Having borne his torments with incredible patience and
unshaken fortitude, he was taken from the rack and beheaded.
Valerian and Marcellus, who were nearly related to each other, were
imprisoned at Lyons, in the year 177, for being christians. The father
was fixed up to the waist in the ground; in which position, after
remaining three days, he expired, A. D. 179. Valerian was beheaded.
Apollonius, a Roman senator, an accomplished gentleman, and a sincere
christian, suffered under Commodus, because he would not worship him as
Hercules.
Eusebius, Vincentius, Potentianus, Peregrinus, and Julius, a Roman
senator, were martyred on the same account.
_The Fifth Persecution, commencing with Severus, A. D. 192._
Severus, having been recovered from a severe fit of sickness by a
christian, became a great favourer of the christians in general; but the
prejudice and fury of the ignorant multitude prevailing, obsolete laws
were put in execution against the christians. The progress of
christianity alarmed the pagans, and they revived the stale calumny of
placing accidental misfortunes to the account of its professors, A. D.
192.
But, though persecuting malice raged, yet the gospel shone with
resplendent brightness; and, firm as an impregnable rock, withstood the
attacks of its boisterous enemies with success. Turtullian, who lived in
this age, informs us, that if the christians had collectively withdrawn
themselves from the Roman territories, the empire would have been
greatly depopulated.
Victor, bishop of Rome, suffered martyrdom in the first year of the
third century, A. D. 201. Leonidus, the father of the celebrated Origen,
was beheaded for being a christian. Many of Origen's hearers likewise
suffered martyrdom; particularly two brothers, named Plutarchus and
Serenus; another Serenus, Heron, and Heraclides, were beheaded. Rhais
had boiled pitch poured upon her head, and was then burnt, as was
Marcella her mother. Potamiena, the sister of Rhais, was executed in the
same manner as Rhais had been; but Basilides, an officer belonging to
the army, and ordered to attend her execution, became her convert.
Basilides being, as an officer, required to take a certain oath,
refused, saying, that he could not swear by the Roman idols, as he was a
christian. Struck with surprise, the people could not, at first, believe
what they heard; but he had no sooner confirmed the same, than he was
dragged before the judge, committed to prison, and speedily afterward
beheaded.
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, was born in Greece, and received both a polite
and a christian education. It is generally supposed, that the account of
the persecutions at Lyons was written by himself. He succeeded the
martyr Pothinus as bishop of Lyons, and ruled his diocese with great
propriety; he was a zealous opposer of heresies in general, and, about
A. D. 187, he wrote a celebrated tract against heresy. Victor, the
bishop of Rome, wanting to impose the keeping of Easter there, in
preference to other places, it occasioned some disorders among the
christians. In particular, Irenaeus wrote him a synodical epistle, in the
name of the Gallic churches. This zeal, in favour of christianity,
pointed him out as an object of resentment to the emperor; and in A. D.
202, he was beheaded.
The persecutions now extending to Africa, many were martyred in that
quarter of the globe; the most particular of whom we shall mention.
Perpetua, a married lady, of about twenty-two years. Those who suffered
with her were, Felicitas, a married lady, big with child at the time of
her being apprehended; and Revocatus, catechumen of Carthage, and a
slave. The names of the other prisoners, destined to suffer upon this
occasion, were Saturninus, Secundulus and Satur. On the day appointed
for their execution, they were led to the amphitheatre. Satur,
Saturninus, and Revocatus, were ordered to run the gauntlet between the
hunters, or such as had the care of the wild beasts. The hunters being
drawn up in two ranks, they ran between, and were severely lashed as
they passed. Felicitas and Perpetua were stripped, in order to be thrown
to a mad bull, which made his first attack upon Perpetua, and stunned
her; he then darted at Felicitas, and gored her dreadfully; but not
killing them, the executioner did that office with a sword. Revocatus
and Satur were destroyed by wild beasts; Saturninus was beheaded; and
Secundulus died in prison. These executions were in the year 205, on the
8th day of March.
Speratus, and twelve others, were likewise beheaded; as was Andocles in
France. Asclepiades, bishop of Antioch, suffered many tortures, but his
life was spared.
Cecilia, a young lady of good family in Rome, was married to a gentleman
named Valerian. She converted her husband and brother, who were
beheaded; and the maximus, or officer, who led them to execution,
becoming their convert, suffered the same fate. The lady was placed
naked in a scalding bath, and having continued there a considerable
time, her head was struck off with a sword, A. D. 222.
Calistus, bishop of Rome, was martyred, A. D. 224; but the manner of
his death is not recorded; and Urban, bishop of Rome, met the same fate
A. D. 232.
_The Sixth Persecution, under Maximinus, A. D. 235._
A. D. 235, was in the time of Maximinus. In Cappadocia, the president,
Seremianus, did all he could to exterminate the christians from that
province.
The principal persons who perished under this reign were Pontianus,
bishop of Rome; Anteros, a Grecian, his successor, who gave offence to
the government, by collecting the acts of the martyrs, Pammachius and
Quiritus, Roman senators, with all their families, and many other
christians; Simplicius, senator; Calepodius, a christian minister,
thrown into the Tyber; Martina, a noble and beautiful virgin; and
Hippolitus, a christian prelate, tied to a wild horse, and dragged till
he expired.
During this persecution, raised by Maximinus, numberless christians were
slain without trial, and buried indiscriminately in heaps, sometimes
fifty or sixty being cast into a pit together, without the least
decency.
The tyrant Maximinus dying, A. D. 238, was succeeded by Gordian, during
whose reign, and that of his successor Philip, the church was free from
persecution for the space of more than ten years; but A. D. 249, a
violent persecution broke out in Alexandria, at the instigation of a
pagan priest, without the knowledge of the emperor.
_The Seventh Persecution, under Decius A. D. 249._
This was occasioned partly by the hatred he bore to his predecessor
Philip, who was deemed a christian, and partly to his jealousy
concerning the amazing increase of christianity; for the heathen temples
began to be forsaken, and the christian churches thronged.
These reasons stimulated Decius to attempt the very extirpation of the
name of christian; and it was unfortunate for the gospel, that many
errors had, about this time, crept into the church: the christians were
at variance with each other; self-interest divided those whom social
love ought to have united; and the virulence of pride occasioned a
variety of factions.
The heathens in general were ambitious to enforce the imperial decrees
upon this occasion, and looked upon the murder of a christian as a merit
to themselves. The martyrs, upon this occasion, were innumerable; but
the principal we shall give some account of.
Fabian, the bishop of Rome, was the first person of eminence who felt
the severity of this persecution. The deceased emperor, Philip, had, on
account of his integrity, committed his treasure to the care of this
good man. But Decius, not finding as much as his avarice made him
expect, determined to wreak his vengeance on the good prelate. He was
accordingly seized; and on the 20th of January, A. D. 250, he suffered
decapitation.
Julian, a native of Cilicia, as we are informed by St. Chrysostom, was
seized upon for being a christian. He was put into a leather bag,
together with a number of serpents and scorpions, and in that condition
thrown into the sea.
Peter, a young man, amiable for the superior qualities of his body and
mind, was beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to Venus. He said, "I am
astonished you should sacrifice to an infamous woman, whose debaucheries
even your own historians record, and whose life consisted of such
actions as your laws would punish.--No, I shall offer the true God the
acceptable sacrifice of praises and prayers." Optimus, the proconsul of
Asia, on hearing this, ordered the prisoner to be stretched upon a
wheel, by which all his bones were broken, and then he was sent to be
beheaded.
Nichomachus, being brought before the proconsul as a christian, was
ordered to sacrifice to the pagan idols. Nichomachus replied, "I cannot
pay that respect to devils, which is only due to the Almighty." This
speech so much enraged the proconsul, that Nichomachus was put to the
rack. After enduring the torments for a time, he recanted; but scarcely
had he given this proof of his frailty, than he fell into the greatest
agonies, dropped down on the ground, and expired immediately.
Denisa, a young woman of only sixteen years of age, who beheld this
terrible judgment, suddenly exclaimed, "O unhappy wretch, why would you
buy a moment's ease at the expense of a miserable eternity!" Optimus,
hearing this, called to her, and Denisa avowing herself to be a
christian, she was beheaded, by his order, soon after.
Andrew and Paul, two companions of Nichomachus the martyr, A. D. 251,
suffered martyrdom by stoning, and expired, calling on their blessed
Redeemer.
Alexander and Epimachus, of Alexandria, were apprehended for being
christians: and, confessing the accusation, were beat with staves, torn
with hooks, and at length burnt in the fire; and we are informed, in a
fragment preserved by Eusebius, that four female martyrs suffered on the
same day, and at the same place, but not in the same manner; for these
were beheaded.
Lucian and Marcian, two wicked pagans, though skilful magicians,
becoming converts to christianity, to make amends for their former
errors, lived the lives of hermits, and subsisted upon bread and water
only. After some time spent in this manner, they became zealous
preachers, and made many converts. The persecution, however, raging at
this time, they were seized upon, and carried before Sabinus, the
governor of Bithynia. On being asked by what authority they took upon
themselves to preach, Lucian answered, "That the laws of charity and
humanity obliged all men to endeavour the conversion of their
neighbours, and to do every thing in their power to rescue them from the
snares of the devil."
Lucian having answered in this manner, Marcian said, that "Then
conversion was by the same grace which was given to St. Paul, who, from
a zealous persecutor of the church, became a preacher of the gospel."
The proconsul, finding that he could not prevail with them to renounce
their faith, condemned them to be burnt alive, which sentence was soon
after executed.
Trypho and Respicius, two eminent men, were seized as Christians, and
imprisoned at Nice. Their feet were pierced with nails; they were
dragged through the streets, scourged, torn with iron hooks, scorched
with lighted torches, and at length beheaded, February 1, A. D. 251.
Agatha, a Sicilian lady, was not more remarkable for her personal and
acquired endowments, than her piety: her beauty was such, that Quintian,
governor of Sicily, became enamoured of her, and made many attempts upon
her chastity without success.
In order to gratify his passions with the greater conveniency, he put
the virtuous lady into the hands of Aphrodica, a very infamous and
licentious woman. This wretch tried every artifice to win her to the
desired prostitution; but found all her efforts were vain; for her
chastity was impregnable, and she well knew that virtue alone could
procure true happiness. Aphrodica acquainted Quintian with the
inefficacy of her endeavours, who, enraged to be foiled in his designs,
changed his lust into resentment. On her confessing that she was a
christian, he determined to gratify his revenge, as he could not his
passion. Pursuant to his orders, she was scourged, burnt with red-hot
irons, and torn with sharp hooks. Having borne these torments with
admirable fortitude, she was next laid naked upon live coals,
intermingled with glass, and then being carried back to prison, she
there expired on the 5th of Feb. 251.
Cyril, bishop of Gortyna, was seized by order of Lucius, the governor of
that place, who, nevertheless, exhorted him to obey the imperial
mandate, perform the sacrifices, and save his venerable person from
destruction; for he was now eighty-four years of age. The good prelate
replied, that as he had long taught others to save their souls, he
should only think now of his own salvation. The worthy prelate heard his
fiery sentence without emotion, walked cheerfully to the place of
execution, and underwent his martyrdom with great fortitude.
The persecution raged in no place more than the Island of Crete; for the
governor, being exceedingly active in executing the imperial decrees,
that place streamed with pious blood.
Babylas, a christian of a liberal education, became bishop of Antioch,
A. D. 237, on the demise of Zebinus. He acted with inimitable zeal, and
governed the church with admirable prudence during the most tempestuous
times.
The first misfortune that happened to Antioch during his mission, was
the siege of it by Sapor, king of Persia; who, having overrun all Syria,
took and plundered this city among others, and used the christian
inhabitants with greater severity than the rest, but was soon totally
defeated by Gordian.
After Gordian's death, in the reign of Decius, that emperor came to
Antioch, where, having a desire to visit an assembly of christians,
Babylas opposed him, and absolutely refused to let him come in. The
emperor dissembled his anger at that time; but soon sending for the
bishop, he sharply reproved him for his insolence, and then ordered him
to sacrifice to the pagan deities as an expiation for his offence. This
being refused, he was committed to prison, loaded with chains, treated
with great severities, and then beheaded, together with three young men
who had been his pupils. A. D. 251.
Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, about this time was cast into prison on
account of his religion, where he died through the severity of his
confinement.
Julianus, an old man, lame with the gout, and Cronion, another
christian, were bound on the backs of camels, severely scourged, and
then thrown into a fire and consumed. Also forty virgins, at Antioch,
after being imprisoned and scourged, were burnt.
In the year of our Lord 251, the emperor Decius having erected a pagan
temple at Ephesus, he commanded all who were in that city to sacrifice
to the idols. This order was nobly refused by seven of his own soldiers,
viz. Maximianus, Martianus, Joannes, Malchus, Dionysius, Seraion, and
Constantinus. The emperor wishing to win these soldiers to renounce
their faith by his entreaties and lenity, gave them a considerable
respite till he returned from an expedition. During the emperor's
absence, they escaped, and hid themselves in a cavern; which the emperor
being informed of at his return, the mouth of the cave was closed up,
and they all perished with hunger.
Theodora, a beautiful young lady of Antioch, on refusing to sacrifice to
the Roman idols, was condemned to the stews, that her virtue might be
sacrificed to the brutality of lust. Didymus, a christian, disguised
himself in the habit of a Roman soldier, went to the house, informed
Theodora who he was, and advised her to make her escape in his clothes.
This being effected, and a man found in the brothel instead of a
beautiful lady, Didymus was taken before the president, to whom
confessing the truth, and owning that he was a christian the sentence of
death was immediately pronounced against him. Theodora, hearing that her
deliverer was likely to suffer, came to the judge, threw herself at his
feet, and begged that the sentence might fall on her as the guilty
person; but, deaf to the cries of the innocent, and insensible to the
calls of justice, the inflexible judge condemned both, when they were
executed accordingly, being first beheaded, and their bodies afterward
burnt.
Secundianus, having been accused as a christian, was conveyed to prison
by some soldiers. On the way, Verianus and Marcellinus said, "Where are
you carrying the innocent?" This interrogatory occasioned them to be
seized, and all three, after having been tortured, were hanged and
decapitated.
Origen, the celebrated presbyter and catechist of Alexandria, at the age
of sixty-four, was seized, thrown into a loathsome prison, laden with
fetters, his feet placed in the stocks, and his legs extended to the
utmost for several successive days. He was threatened with fire, and
tormented by every lingering means the most infernal imaginations could
suggest. During thus cruel temporizing, the emperor Decius died, and
Gallus, who succeeded him, engaging in a war with the Goths, the
christians met with a respite. In this interim, Origen obtained his
enlargement, and, retiring to Tyre, he there remained till his death,
which happened when he was in the sixty-ninth year of his age.
Gallus, the emperor, having concluded his wars, a plague broke out in
the empire: sacrifices to the pagan deities were ordered by the emperor,
and persecutions spread from the interior to the extreme parts of the
empire, and many fell martyrs to the impetuosity of the rabble, as well
as the prejudice of the magistrates. Among these were Cornelius, the
christian bishop of Rome, and Lucius, his successor, in 253.
Most of the errors which crept into the church at this time, arose from
placing human reason in competition with revelation; but the fallacy of
such arguments being proved by the most able divines, the opinions they
had created vanished away like the stars before the sun.
_The Eighth Persecution, under Valerian, A. D. 257_,
Began under Valerian, in the month of April, 257, and continued for
three years and six months. The martyrs that fell in this persecution
were innumerable, and their tortures and deaths as various and painful.
The most eminent martyrs were the following, though neither rank, sex,
or age were regarded.
Rufina and Secunda, two beautiful and accomplished ladies, daughters of
Asterius, a gentleman of eminence in Rome. Rufina, the elder, was
designed in marriage for Armentarius, a young nobleman; Secunda, the
younger, for Verinus a person of rank and opulence. The suitors, at the
time of the persecution's commencing, were both christians; but when
danger appeared, to save their fortunes, they renounced their faith.
They took great pains to persuade the ladies to do the same, but,
disappointed in their purpose, the lovers were base enough to inform
against the ladies, who, being apprehended as christians, were brought
before Junius Donatus, governor of Rome, where, A. D. 257, they sealed
their martyrdom with their blood.
Stephen, bishop of Rome, was beheaded in the same year, and about that
time Saturnius, the pious orthodox bishop of Thoulouse, refusing to
sacrifice to idols, was treated with all the barbarous indignities
imaginable, and fastened by the feet to the tail of a bull. Upon a
signal given, the enraged animal was driven down the steps of the
temple, by which the worthy martyr's brains were dashed out.
Sextus succeeded Stephen as bishop of Rome. He is supposed to have been
a Greek by birth or by extraction, and had for some time served in the
capacity of a deacon under Stephen. His great fidelity, singular wisdom,
and uncommon courage, distinguished him upon many occasions; and the
happy conclusion of a controversy with some heretics is generally
ascribed to his piety and prudence. In the year 258, Marcianus, who had
the management of the Roman government, procured an order from the
emperor Valerian, to put to death all the christian clergy in Rome, and
hence the bishop with six of his deacons, suffered martyrdom in 258.
Laurentius, generally called St. Laurence, the principal of the deacons,
who taught and preached under Sextus, followed him to the place of
execution; when Sextus predicted, that he should, three days after, meet
him in heaven.
Laurentius, looking upon this as a certain indication of his own
approaching martyrdom, at his return gathered together all the christian
poor, and distributed the treasures of the church, which had been
committed to his care, among them.
This liberality alarmed the persecutors, who commanded him to give an
immediate account to the emperor of the church treasures. This he
promised to do in three days, during which interval, he collected
together a great number of aged, helpless, and impotent poor; he
repaired to the magistrate, and presenting them to him, said, "These are
the true treasures of the church." Incensed at the disappointment, and
fancying the matter meant in ridicule, the governor ordered him to be
immediately scourged. He was then beaten with iron rods, set upon a
wooden horse, and had his limbs dislocated. These tortures he endured
with fortitude and perseverance; when he was ordered to be fastened to a
large gridiron, with a slow fire under it, that his death might be the
more lingering. His astonishing constancy during these trials, and
serenity of countenance while under such excruciating torments, gave the
spectators so exalted an idea of the dignity and truth of the christian
religion, that many became converts upon the occasion, of whom was
Romanus, a soldier.
In Africa the persecution raged with peculiar violence; many thousands
received the crown of martyrdom, among whom the following were the most
distinguished characters:
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, an eminent prelate, and a pious ornament of
the church. The brightness of his genius was tempered by the solidity of
his judgment; and with all the accomplishments of the gentleman, he
blended the virtues of a christian. His doctrines were orthodox and
pure; his language easy and elegant; and his manners graceful and
winning: in fine, he was both the pious and polite preacher. In his
youth he was educated in the principles of Gentilism, and having a
considerable fortune, he lived in the very extravagance of splendour,
and all the dignity of pomp.
About the year 246, Coecilius, a christian minister of Carthage became
the happy instrument of Cyprian's conversion: on which account, and for
the great love that he always afterward bore for the author of his
conversion, he was termed Coecilius Cyprian. Previous to his baptism,
he studied the scriptures with care, and being struck with the beauties
of the truths they contained, he determined to practise the virtues
therein recommended. Subsequent to his baptism, he sold his estate,
distributed the money among the poor, dressed himself in plain attire,
and commenced a life of austerity. He was soon after made a presbyter;
and, being greatly admired for his virtues and works, on the death of
Donatus, in A. D. 248, he was almost unanimously elected bishop of
Carthage.
Cyprian's care not only extended over Carthage, but to Numidia and
Mauritania. In all his transactions he took great care to ask the advice
of his clergy, knowing, that unanimity alone could be of service to the
church, this being one of his maxims, "That the bishop was in the
church, and the church in the bishop; so that unity can only be
preserved by a close connexion between the pastor and his flock."
A. D. 250, Cyprian was publicly proscribed by the emperor Decius, under
the appellation of Coecilius Cyprian, bishop of the christians; and
the universal cry of the pagans was, "Cyprian to the lions, Cyprian to
the beasts." The bishop, however, withdrew from the rage of the
populace, and his effects were immediately confiscated. During his
retirement, he wrote thirty pious and elegant letters to his flock; but
several schisms that then crept into the church, gave him great
uneasiness. The rigour of the persecution abating, he returned to
Carthage, and did every thing in his power to expunge erroneous
opinions. A terrible plague breaking out in Carthage, it was as usual,
laid to the charge of the christians; and the magistrates began to
persecute accordingly, which occasioned an epistle from them to Cyprian,
in answer to which he vindicates the cause of christianity. A. D. 257,
Cyprian was brought before the proconsul Aspasius Paturnus, who exiled
him to a little city on the Lybian sea. On the death of this proconsul,
he returned to Carthage, but was soon after seized, and carried before
the now governor, who condemned him to be beheaded; which sentence was
executed on the 14th of September, A. D. 258.
The disciples of Cyprian, martyred in this persecution, were Lucius,
Flavian, Victoricus, Remus, Montanus, Julian, Primelus, and Donatian.
At Utica, a most terrible tragedy was exhibited: 300 christians were, by
the orders of the proconsul, placed round a burning limekiln. A pan of
coals and incense being prepared, they were commanded either to
sacrifice to Jupiter, or to be thrown into the kiln. Unanimously
refusing, they bravely jumped into the pit, and were immediately
suffocated.
Fructuosus, bishop of Tarragon, in Spain, and his two deacons, Augurius
and Eulogius, were burnt for being christians.
Alexander, Malchus, and Priscus, three christians of Palestine, with a
woman of the same place, voluntarily accused themselves of being
christians; on which account they were sentenced to be devoured by
tigers, which sentence was executed accordingly.
Maxima, Donatilla, and Secunda, three virgins of Tuburga, had gall and
vinegar given them to drink, were then severely scourged, tormented on a
gibbet, rubbed with lime, scorched on a gridiron, worried by wild
beasts, and at length beheaded.
It is here proper to take notice of the singular but miserable fate of
the emperor Valerian, who had so long and so terribly persecuted the
christians.
This tyrant, by a stratagem, was taken prisoner by Sapor, emperor of
Persia, who carried him into his own country, and there treated him with
the most unexampled indignity, making him kneel down as the meanest
slave, and treading upon him as a footstool when he mounted his horse.
After having kept him for the space of seven years in this abject state
of slavery, he caused his eyes to be put out, though he was then 83
years of age. This not satiating his desire of revenge, he soon after
ordered his body to be flayed alive, and rubbed with salt, under which
torments he expired; and thus fell one of the most tyrannical emperors
of Rome, and one of the greatest persecutors of the christians.
A. D. 260, Gallienus, the son of Valerian, succeeded him, and during his
reign (a few martyrs excepted) the church enjoyed peace for some years.
_The Ninth Persecution under Aurelian, A. D. 274._
The principal sufferers were, Felix, bishop of Rome. This prelate was
advanced to the Roman see in 274. He was the first martyr to Aurelian's
petulancy, being beheaded on the 22d of December, in the same year.
Agapetus, a young gentleman, who sold his estate, and gave the money to
the poor, was seized as a christian, tortured, and then beheaded at
Praeneste, a city within a day's journey of Rome.
These are the only martyrs left upon record during this reign, as it was
soon put a stop to by the emperor's being murdered by his own domestics,
at Byzantium.
Aurelian was succeeded by Tacitus, who was followed by Probus, as the
latter was by Carus: this emperor being killed by a thunder storm, his
sons, Carnious and Numerian, succeeded him, and during all these reigns
the church had peace.
Diocletian mounted the imperial throne, A. D. 284; at first he showed
great favour to the christians. In the year 286, he associated Maximian
with him in the empire; and some christians were put to death before any
general persecution broke out. Among these were Felician and Primus, two
brothers.
Marcus and Marcellianus were twins, natives of Rome, and of noble
descent. Their parents were heathens, but the tutors, to whom the
education of the children was intrusted, brought them up as christians.
Their constancy at length subdued those who wished them to become
pagans, and their parents and whole family became converts to a faith
they had before reprobated. They were martyred by being tied to posts,
and having their feet pierced with nails. After remaining in this
situation for a day and a night, their sufferings were put an end to by
thrusting lances through their bodies.
Zoe, the wife of the jailer, who had the care of the before-mentioned
martyrs, was also converted by them, and hung upon a tree, with a fire
of straw lighted under her. When her body was taken down, it was thrown
into a river, with a large stone tied to it, in order to sink it.
In the year of Christ 286, a most remarkable affair occurred; a legion
of soldiers, consisting of 6666 men, contained none but christians. This
legion was called the Theban Legion, because the men had been raised in
Thebias: they were quartered in the east till the emperor Maximian
ordered them to march to Gaul, to assist him against the rebels of
Burgundy. They passed the Alps into Gaul, under the command of
Mauritius, Candidus, and Exupernis, their worthy commanders, and at
length joined the emperor.
Maximian, about this time, ordered a general sacrifice, at which the
whole army was to assist; and likewise he commanded, that they should
take the oath of allegiance and swear, at the same time, to assist in
the extirpation of christianity in Gaul.
Alarmed at these orders, each individual of the Theban Legion absolutely
refused either to sacrifice or take the oaths prescribed. This so
greatly enraged Maximian, that he ordered the legion to be decimated,
that is, every tenth man to be selected from the rest, and put to the
sword. This bloody order having been put in execution, those who
remained alive were still inflexible, when a second decimation took
place, and every tenth man of those living were put to death.
This second severity made no more impression than the first had done;
the soldiers preserved their fortitude and their principles, but by the
advice of their officers they drew up a loyal remonstrance to the
emperor. This, it might have been presumed, would have softened the
emperor, but it had a contrary effect: for, enraged at their
perseverance and unanimity, he commanded, that the whole legion should
be put to death, which was accordingly executed by the other troops, who
cut them to pieces with their swords, 22d Sept. 286.
Alban, from whom St. Alban's, in Hertfordshire, received its name, was
the first British martyr. Great Britain had received the gospel of
Christ from Lucius, the first christian king, but did not suffer from
the rage of persecution for many years after. He was originally a pagan,
but converted by a christian ecclesiastic, named Amphibalus, whom he
sheltered on account of his religion. The enemies of Amphibalus, having
intelligence of the place where he was secreted, came to the house of
Alban; in order to facilitate his escape, when the soldiers came, he
offered himself up as the person they were seeking for. The deceit being
detected, the governor ordered him to be scourged, and then he was
sentenced to be beheaded, June 22, A. D. 287.
The venerable Bede assures us, that, upon this occasion, the executioner
suddenly became a convert to christianity, and entreated permission to
die for Alban, or with him. Obtaining the latter request, they were
beheaded by a soldier, who voluntarily undertook the task of
executioner. This happened on the 22d of June, A. D. 287, at Verulam,
now St. Albans, in Hertfordshire, where a magnificent church was erected
to his memory about the time of Constantine the Great. This edifice,
being destroyed in the Saxon wars, was rebuilt by Offa, king of Mercia,
and a monastery erected adjoining to it, some remains of which are still
visible, and the church is a noble Gothic structure.
Faith, a christian female, of Acquitain, in France, was ordered to be
broiled upon a gridiron, and then beheaded; A. D. 287.
Quintin was a christian, and a native of Rome, but determined to attempt
the propagation of the gospel in Gaul, with one Lucian, they preached
together in Amiens; after which Lucian went to Beaumaris, where he was
martyred. Quintin remained in Picardy, and was very zealous in his
ministry.
Being seized upon as a christian, he was stretched with pullies till his
joints were dislocated: his body was then torn with wire scourges, and
boiling oil and pitch poured on his naked flesh; lighted torches were
applied to his sides and armpits; and after he had been thus tortured,
he was remanded back to prison, and died of the barbarities he had
suffered, October 31, A. D. 287. His body was sunk in the Somme.
_The Tenth Persecution under Diocletian, A. D. 303_,
Under the Roman Emperors, commonly called the Era of the Martyrs, was
occasioned partly by the increasing numbers and luxury of the
christians, and the hatred of Galerius, the adopted son of Diocletian,
who, being stimulated by his mother, a bigoted pagan, never ceased
persuading the emperor to enter upon the persecution, till he had
accomplished his purpose.
The fatal day fixed upon to commence the bloody work, was the 23d of
February, A. D. 303, that being the day in which the Terminalia were
celebrated, and on which, as the cruel pagans boasted, they hoped to put
a termination to christianity. On the appointed day, the persecution
began in Nicomedia, on the morning of which the prefect of that city
repaired, with a great number of officers and assistants, to the church
of the christians, where, having forced open the doors, they seized upon
all the sacred books, and committed them to the flames.
The whole of this transaction was in the presence of Diocletian and
Galerius, who, not contented with burning the books, had the church
levelled with the ground. This was followed by a severe edict,
commanding the destruction of all other christian churches and books;
and an order soon succeeded, to render christians of all denominations
outlaws.
The publication of this edict occasioned an immediate martyrdom for a
bold christian not only tore it down from the place to which it was
affixed, but execrated the name of the emperor for his injustice.
A provocation like this was sufficient to call down pagan vengeance upon
his head; he was accordingly seized, severely tortured, and then burned
alive.
All the christians were apprehended and imprisoned; and Galerius
privately ordered the imperial palace to be set on fire, that the
christians might be charged as the incendiaries, and a plausible
pretence given for carrying on the persecution with the greatest
severities. A general sacrifice was commenced, which occasioned various
martyrdoms. No distinction was made of age or sex; the name of Christian
was so obnoxious to the pagans, that all indiscriminately fell
sacrifices to their opinions. Many houses were set on fire, and whole
christian families perished in the flames; and others had stones
fastened about their necks, and being tied together were driven into the
sea. The persecution became general in all the Roman provinces, but more
particularly in the east; and as it lasted ten years, it is impossible
to ascertain the numbers martyred, or to enumerate the various modes of
martyrdom.
Racks, scourges, swords, daggers, crosses, poison, and famine, were made
use of in various parts to despatch the christians; and invention was
exhausted to devise tortures against such as had no crime, but thinking
differently from the votaries of superstition.
A city of Phrygia, consisting entirely of christians, was burnt, and all
the inhabitants perished in the flames.
Tired with slaughter, at length, several governors of provinces
represented to the imperial court, the impropriety of such conduct.
Hence many were respited from execution, but, though they were not put
to death, as much as possible was done to render their lives miserable,
many of them having their ears cut off, their noses slit, their right
eyes put out, their limbs rendered useless by dreadful dislocations, and
their flesh seared in conspicuous places with red-hot irons.
It is necessary now to particularize the most conspicuous persons who
laid down their lives in martyrdom in this bloody persecution.
Sebastian, a celebrated martyr, was born at Narbonne, in Gaul,
instructed in the principles of christianity at Milan, and afterward
became an officer of the emperor's guard at Rome. He remained a true
christian in the midst of idolatry; unallured by the splendours of a
court, untainted by evil examples, and uncontaminated by the hopes of
preferment. Refusing to be a pagan, the emperor ordered him to be taken
to a field near the city, termed the Campus Martius, and there to be
shot to death with arrows; which sentence was executed accordingly. Some
pious christians coming to the place of execution, in order to give his
body burial, perceived signs of life in him, and immediately moving him
to a place of security, they, in a short time effected his recovery, and
prepared him for a second martyrdom; for, as soon as he was able to go
out, he placed himself intentionally in the emperor's way as he was
going to the temple, and reprehended him for his various cruelties and
unreasonable prejudices against christianity. As soon as Diocletian had
overcome his surprise, he ordered Sebastian to be seized, and carried to
a place near the palace, and beaten to death; and, that the christians
should not either use means again to recover or bury his body, he
ordered that it should be thrown into the common sewer. Nevertheless, a
christian lady, named Lucina, found means to remove it from the sewer,
and bury it in the catacombs, or repositories of the dead.
The christians, about this time, upon mature consideration, thought it
unlawful to bear arms under a heathen emperor. Maximilian, the son of
Fabius Victor, was the first beheaded under this regulation.
Vitus, a Sicilian of considerable family, was brought up a christian;
when his virtues increased with his years, his constancy supported him
under all afflictions, and his faith was superior to the most dangerous
perils. His father, Hylas, who was a pagan, finding that he had been
instructed in the principles of christianity by the nurse who brought
him up, used all his endeavours to bring him back to paganism and at
length sacrificed his son to the idols, June 14, A. D. 303.
Victor was a Christian of a good family at Marseilles, in France; he
spent a great part of the night in visiting the afflicted, and
confirming the weak; which pious work he could not, consistently with
his own safety, perform in the daytime; and his fortune he spent in
relieving the distresses of poor christians.
He was at length, however, seized by the emperor's Maximian's decree,
who ordered him to be bound, and dragged through the streets. During the
execution of this order, he was treated with all manner of cruelties and
indignities by the enraged populace. Remaining still inflexible, his
courage was deemed obstinacy.
Being by order stretched upon the rack, he turned his eyes towards
heaven, and prayed to God to endue him with patience, after which he
underwent the tortures with most admirable fortitude. After the
executioners were tired with inflicting torments on him, he was conveyed
to a dungeon. In his confinement, he converted his jailers, named
Alexander, Felician, and Longinus. This affair coming to the ears of the
emperor, he ordered them immediately to be put to death, and the jailers
were accordingly beheaded. Victor was then again put to the rack,
unmercifully beaten with batons, and again sent to prison.
Being a third time examined concerning his religion, he persevered in
his principles; a small altar was then brought, and he was commanded to
offer incense upon it immediately. Fired with indignation at the
request, he boldly stepped forward, and with his foot overthrew both
altar and idol. This so enraged the emperor Maximian, who was present,
that he ordered the foot with which he had kicked the altar to be
immediately cut off; and Victor was thrown into a mill, and crushed to
pieces with the stones, A. D. 303.
Maximus, governor of Cilicia, being at Tarsus, three christians were
brought before him; their names were Tarachus, an aged man; Probus, and
Andronicus. After repeated tortures and exhortations to recant, they, at
length, were ordered for execution.
Being brought to the amphitheatre, several beasts were let loose upon
them; but none of the animals, though hungry, would touch them. The
keeper then brought out a large bear, that had that very day destroyed
three men; but this voracious creature and a fierce lioness both refused
to touch the prisoners. Finding the design of destroying them by the
means of wild beasts ineffectual, Maximus ordered them to be slain by
the sword, on the 11th of October, A. D. 303.
Romanus, a native of Palestine, was deacon of the church of Caesarea, at
the time of the commencement of Diocletian's persecution. Being
condemned for his faith at Antioch, he was scourged, put to the rack,
his body torn with hooks, his flesh cut with knives, his face scarified,
his teeth beaten from their sockets, and his hair plucked up by the
roots. Soon after he was ordered to be strangled, Nov. 17, A. D. 303.
Susanna, the niece of Caius, bishop of Rome, was pressed by the emperor
Diocletian to marry a noble pagan, who was nearly related to him.
Refusing the honour intended her, she was beheaded by the emperor's
order.
Dorotheus, the high chamberlain of the household to Diocletian, was a
christian, and took great pains to make converts. In his religious
labours, he was joined by Gorgonius, another christian, and one
belonging to the palace. They were first tortured and then strangled.
Peter, a eunuch belonging to the emperor, was a christian of singular
modesty and humility. He was laid on a gridiron, and broiled over a slow
fire till he expired.
Cyprian, known by the title of the magician, to distinguish him from
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, was a native of Antioch. He received a
liberal education in his youth, and particularly applied himself to
astrology; after which he travelled for improvement through Greece,
Egypt, India, &c. In the course of time he became acquainted with
Justina, a young lady of Antioch, whose birth, beauty, and
accomplishments, rendered her the admiration of all who knew her.
A pagan gentleman applied to Cyprian, to promote his suit with the
beautiful Justina; this he undertook, but soon himself became converted,
burnt his books of astrology and magic, received baptism, and felt
animated with a powerful spirit of grace. The conversion of Cyprian had
a great effect on the pagan gentleman who paid his addresses to Justina,
and he in a short time embraced christianity. During the persecution of
Diocletian, Cyprian and Justina were seized upon as christians, when the
former was torn with pincers, and the later chastised and, after
suffering other torments, were beheaded.
Eulalia, a Spanish lady of a christian family, was remarkable in her
youth for sweetness of temper, and solidity of understanding seldom
found in the capriciousness of juvenile years. Being apprehended as a
christian, the magistrate attempted by the mildest means, to bring her
over to paganism, but she ridiculed the pagan deities with such
asperity, that the judge, incensed at her behaviour, ordered her to be
tortured. Her sides were accordingly torn by hooks, and her breasts
burnt in the most shocking manner, till she expired by the violence of
the flames, Dec. A. D. 303.
In the year 304, when the persecution reached Spain, Dacian, the
governor of Terragona ordered Valerius the bishop, and Vincent the
deacon, to be seized, loaded with irons, and imprisoned. The prisoners
being firm in their resolution, Valerius was banished, and Vincent was
racked, and his limbs dislocated, his flesh torn with hooks, and was
laid on a gridiron, which had not only a fire placed under it, but
spikes at the top, which ran into his flesh. These torments neither
destroying him, nor changing his resolutions, he was remanded to prison,
and confined in a small, loathsome, dark dungeon, strewed with sharp
flints, and pieces of broken glass, where he died, Jan. 22, 304.--His
body was thrown into the river.
The persecution of Diocletian began particularly to rage in A. D. 304,
when many christians were put to cruel tortures, and the most painful
and ignominious deaths; the most eminent and particular of whom we shall
enumerate.
Saturninus, a priest of Albitina, a town of Africa, after being
tortured, was remanded to prison, and there starved to death. His four
children, after being variously tormented, shared the same fate with
their father.
Dativas, a noble Roman senator; Thelico, a pious Christian, Victoria, a
young lady of considerable family and fortune, with some others of less
consideration, all auditors of Saturninus, were tortured in a similar
manner, and perished by the same means.
Agrape, Chioma, and Irene, three sisters, were seized upon at
Thessalonica, when Diocletian's persecution reached Greece. They were
burnt, and received the crown of martyrdom in the flames, March 25, A.
D. 304. The governor, finding that he could make no impression on Irene,
ordered her to be exposed naked in the streets, which shameful order
having been executed, she was burnt, April 1, A. D. 304, at the same
place where her sisters suffered.
Agatho, a man of a pious turn of mind, with Cassice, Phillippa, and
Eutychia, were martyred about the same time; but the particulars have
not been transmitted to us.
Marcellinus, bishop of Rome, who succeeded Caius in that see, having
strongly opposed paying divine honours to Diocletian, suffered
martyrdom, by a variety of tortures, in the year 321, comforting his
soul till he expired with the prospect of those glorious rewards it
would receive by the tortures suffered in the body.
Victorius, Carpophorus, Severus, and Severianus, were brothers, and all
four employed in places of great trust and honour in the city of Rome.
Having exclaimed against the worship of idols, they were apprehended,
and scourged, with the plumbetae, or scourges, to the ends of which were
fastened leaden balls. This punishment was exercised with such excess of
cruelty, that the pious brothers fell martyrs to its severity.
Timothy, a deacon of Mauritania, and Maura his wife, had not been united
together by the bands of wedlock above three weeks, when they were
separated from each other by the persecution.--Timothy, being
apprehended as a christian, was carried before Arrianus, the governor of
Thebais, who, knowing that he had the keeping of the Holy Scriptures,
commanded him to deliver them up to be burnt; to which he answered, "Had
I children, I would sooner deliver them up to be sacrificed, than part
with the word of God." The governor being much incensed at this reply,
ordered his eyes to be put out with red-hot irons, saying "The books
shall at least be useless to you, for you shall not see to read them."
His patience under the operation was so great, that the governor grew
more exasperated; he, therefore, in order, if possible, to overcome his
fortitude, ordered him to be hung up by the feet, with a weight tied
about his neck, and a gag in his mouth. In this state, Maura, his wife,
tenderly urged him for her sake to recant; but, when the gag was taken
out of his mouth, instead of consenting to his wife's entreaties, he
greatly blamed her mistaken love, and declared his resolution of dying
for the faith. The consequence was, that Maura resolved to imitate his
courage and fidelity and either to accompany or follow him to glory. The
governor, after trying in vain to alter her resolution, ordered her to
be tortured which was executed with great severity. After this, Timothy
and Maura were crucified near each other, A. D. 304.
Sabinus, bishop of Assisium, refusing to sacrifice to Jupiter, and
pushing the idol from him, had his hand cut off by the order of the
governor of Tuscany. While in prison, he converted the governor and his
family, all of whom suffered martyrdom for the faith. Soon after their
execution, Sabinus himself was scourged to death. Dec.. A. D. 304.
Tired with the farce of state and public business, the emperor
Diocletian resigned the imperial diadem, and was succeeded by
Constantius and Galerius; the former a prince of the most mild and
humane disposition and the latter equally remarkable for his cruelty and
tyranny. These divided the empire into two equal governments, Galerius
ruling in the east, and Constantius in the west; and the people in the
two governments felt the effects of the dispositions of the two
emperors; for those in the west were governed in the mildest manner, but
such as resided in the east, felt all then miseries of oppression and
lengthened tortures.
Among the many martyred by the order of Galerius, we shall enumerate the
most eminent.
Amphianus was a gentleman of eminence in Lucia, and a scholar of
Eusebius; Julitta, a Lycaonian of royal descent, but more celebrated for
her virtues than noble blood. While on the rack, her child was killed
before her face. Julitta, of Cappadocia, was a lady of distinguished
capacity, great virtue, and uncommon courage.--To complete the
execution, Julitta had boiling pitch poured on her feet, her sides torn
with hooks, and received the conclusion of her martyrdom, by being
beheaded, April 16, A. D. 305.
Hermolaus, a venerable and pious christian, of a great age, and an
intimate acquaintance of Panteleon's, suffered martyrdom for the faith
on the same day, and in the same manner as Panteleon.
Eustratius, secretary to the governor of Armina, was thrown into a fiery
furnace, for exhorting some christians who had been apprehended, to
persevere in their faith.
Nicander and Marcian, two eminent Roman military officers, were
apprehended on account of their faith. As they were both men of great
abilities in their profession, the utmost means were used to induce them
to renounce christianity: but these endeavours being found ineffectual,
they were beheaded.
In the kingdom of Naples, several martyrdoms took place, in particular,
Januaries, bishop of Beneventum; Sosius, deacon of Misene Proculus,
another deacon; Eutyches and Acutius, two laymen: Festus, a deacon; and
Desiderius, a reader; were all, on account of being christians,
condemned by the governor of Campania, to be devoured by the wild
beasts. The savage animals, however, not touching them, they were
beheaded.
Quirinus, bishop of Siscia, being carried before Matenius, the governor,
was ordered to sacrifice to the pagan deities, agreeably to the edicts
of various Roman emperors. The governor, perceiving his constancy, sent
him to jail, and ordered him to be heavily ironed; flattering himself,
that the hardships of a jail, some occasional tortures and the weight
of chains, might overcome his resolution. Being decided in his
principles, he was sent to Amantius, the principal governor of Pannonia,
now Hungary, who loaded him with chains, and carried him through the
principal towns of the Danube, exposing him to ridicule wherever he
went. Arriving at length at Sabaria, and finding that Quirinus would not
renounce his faith, he ordered him to be cast into a river, with a stone
fastened about his neck. This sentence being put into execution,
Quirinus floated about for some time, and, exhorting the people in the
most pious terms, concluded his admonitions with this prayer: "It is no
new thing, O all-powerful Jesus, for thee to stop the course of rivers,
or to cause a man to walk upon the water as thou didst thy servant
Peter; the people have already seen the proof of thy power in me; grant
me now to lay down my life for thy sake, O my God." On pronouncing the
last words he immediately sank, and died, June 4, A. D. 308; his body
was afterwards taken up, and buried by some pious christians.
Pamphilus, a native of Phoenicia, of a considerable family, was a man
of such extensive learning, that he was called a second Origen. He was
received into the body of the clergy at Caesarea, where he established a
public library and spent his time in the practice of every christian
virtue. He copied the greatest part of the works of Origen with his own
hand, and, assisted by Eusebius, gave a correct copy of the Old
Testament, which had suffered greatly by the ignorance or negligence of
firmer transcribers. In the year 307, he was apprehended, and suffered
torture and martyrdom.
Marcellus, bishop of Rome, being banished on account of his faith, fell
a martyr to the miseries he suffered in exile, 16th Jan. A. D. 310.
Peter, the sixteenth bishop of Alexandria, was martyred Nov. 25, A. D.
311, by order of Maximus Caesar, who reigned in the east.
Agnes, a virgin of only thirteen years of age, was beheaded for being a
christian; as was Serene, the empress of Diocletian. Valentine, a
priest, suffered the same fate at Rome; and Erasmus, a bishop, was
martyred in Campania.
Soon after this the persecution abated in the middle parts of the
empire, as well as in the west; and Providence at length began to
manifest vengeance on the persecutors. Maximian endeavoured to corrupt
his daughter Fausta to murder Constantine her husband; which she
discovered, and Constantine forced him to choose his own death, when he
preferred the ignominious death of hanging, after being an emperor near
twenty years.
Galerius was visited by an incurable and intolerable disease, which
began with an ulcer in his secret parts and a fistula in ano, that
spread progressively to his inmost bowels, and baffled all the skill of
physicians and surgeons. Untried medicines of some daring professors
drove the evil through his bones to the very marrow, and worms began to
breed in his entrails; and the stench was so preponderant as to be
perceived in the city; all the passages separating the passages of the
urine, and excrements being corroded and destroyed. The whole mass of
his body was turned unto universal rottenness; and, though living
creatures, and boiled animals, were applied with the design of drawing
out the vermin by the heat, by which a vast hive was opened, a second
imposthume discovered a more prodigious swarm, as if his whole body was
resolved into worms. By a dropsy also his body was grossly disfigured;
for although his upper parts were exhausted, and dried to a skeleton,
covered only with dead skin; the lower parts were swelled up like
bladders, and the shape of his feet could scarcely be perceived.
Torments and pains insupportable, greater than those he had inflicted
upon the christians, accompanied these visitations, and he bellowed out
like a wounded bull, often endeavouring to kill himself and destroying
several physicians for the inefficacy of their medicines. These torments
kept him in a languishing state a full year, and his conscience was
awakened, at length, so that he was compelled to acknowledge the God of
the christians, and to promise, in the intervals of his paroxysms, that
he would rebuild the churches, and repair the mischief done to them. An
edict in his last agonies, was published in his name, and the joint
names of Constantine and Licinius, to permit the christians to have the
free use of religion, and to supplicate their God for his health and the
good of the empire; on which many prisoners in Nicomedia were liberated,
and amongst others Donatus.
At length, Constantine the Great, determined to redress the grievances
of the christians, for which purpose he raised an army of 30,000 foot,
and 8000 horse, which he marched towards Rome against Maxentius, the
emperor; defeated him, and entered the city of Rome in triumph. A law
was now published in favour of the christians, in which Licinius was
joined by Constantine, and a copy of it was sent to Maximus in the east.
Maximus, who was a bigoted pagan, greatly disliked the edict, but being
afraid of Constantine, did not openly avow his disapprobation. Maximus
at length invaded the territories of Licinius, but, being defeated, put
an end to his life by poison. Licinius afterwards persecuting the
christians, Constantine the Great marched against him, and defeated him:
he was afterwards slain by his own soldiers.
We shall conclude our account of the tenth and last general persecution
with the death of St. George, the titular saint and patron of England.
St. George was born in Cappadocia, of christian parents; and giving
proofs of his courage, was promoted in the army of the emperor
Diocletian. During the persecution, St. George threw up his command,
went boldly to the senate house, and avowed his being a christian,
taking occasion at the same time to remonstrate against paganism, and
point out the absurdity of worshipping idols. This freedom so greatly
provoked the senate, that St. George was ordered to be tortured, and by
the emperor's orders was dragged through the streets, and beheaded the
next day.
CHAPTER III.
PERSECUTIONS OF THE CHRISTIANS IN PERSIA.
The gospel having spread itself into Persia, the pagan priests, who
worshipped the sun, were greatly alarmed, and dreaded the loss of that
influence they had hitherto maintained over the people's minds and
properties. Hence they thought it expedient to complain to the emperor,
that the christians were enemies to the state, and held a treasonable
correspondence with the Romans, the great enemies of Persia.
The emperor Sapores, being naturally averse to christianity, easily
believed what was said against the christians, and gave orders to
persecute them in all parts of his empire. On account of this mandate,
many eminent persons in the church and state fell martyrs to the
ignorance and ferocity of the pagans.
Constantine the Great being informed of the persecutions in Persia,
wrote a long letter to the Persian monarch, in which he recounts the
vengeance that had fallen on persecutors, and the great success that had
attended those who had refrained from persecuting the christians. The
persecution by this means ended during the life of Sapores; but it was
again renewed under the lives of his successors.
_Persecutions under the Arian Heretics._
The author of the Arian heresy was Arius, a native of Lybia, and a
priest of Alexandria, who, in A. D. 318, began to publish his errors. He
was condemned by a council of Lybian and Egyptian bishops, and that
sentence was confirmed by the council of Nice, A. D. 325. After the
death of Constantine the Great, the Arians found means to ingratiate
themselves into the favour of the emperor Constantinus, his son and
successor in the east; and hence a persecution was raised against the
orthodox bishops and clergy. The celebrated Athanasius, and other
bishops, were banished, and their sees filled with Arians.
In Egypt and Lybia, thirty bishops were martyred, and many other
christians cruelly tormented; and, A. D. 386, George, the Arian bishop
of Alexandria, under the authority of the emperor, began a persecution
in that city and its environs, and carried it on with the most infernal
severity. He was assisted in his diabolical malice by Catophonius,
governor of Egypt; Sebastian, general of the Egyptian forces; Faustinus
the treasurer; and Herachus, a Roman officer.
The persecution now raged in such a manner, that the clergy were driven
from Alexandria, their churches were shut, and the severities practised
by the Arian heretics were as great as those that had been practised by
the pagan idolaters. If a man, accused of being a christian, made his
escape, then his whole family were massacred, and his effects
confiscated.
_Persecution under Julian the Apostate._
This emperor was the son of Julius Constantius, and the nephew of
Constantine the Great. He studied the rudiments of grammar under the
inspection of Mardomus, a eunuch, and a heathen of Constantinople. His
father sent him some time after to Nicomedia, to be instructed in the
christian religion, by the bishop of Eusebius, his kinsman, but his
principles were corrupted by the pernicious doctrines of Ecebolius the
rhetorician, and Maximus the magician.
Constantius dying in the year 361, Julian succeeded him, and had no
sooner attained the imperial dignity, than he renounced Christianity and
embraced paganism, which had for some years fallen into great disrepute.
Though he restored the idolatrous worship, he made no public edicts
against christianity. He recalled all banished pagans, allowed the free
exercise of religion to every sect, but deprived all christians of
offices at court, in the magistracy, or in the army. He was chaste,
temperate, vigilant, laborious, and pious; yet he prohibited any
christian from keeping a school or public seminary of learning, and
deprived all the christian clergy of the privileges granted them by
Constantine the Great.
Bishop Basil made himself first famous by his opposition to Arianism,
which brought upon him the vengeance of the Arian bishop of
Constantinople; he equally opposed paganism. The emperor's agents in
vain tampered with Basil by means of promises, threats, and racks, he
was firm in the faith, and remained in prison to undergo some other
sufferings, when the emperor came accidentally to Ancyra. Julian
determined to examine Basil himself, when that holy man being brought
before him, the emperor did every thing in his power to dissuade him
from persevering in the faith. Basil not only continued as firm as ever,
but, with a prophetic spirit foretold the death of the emperor, and that
he should be tormented in the other life. Enraged at what he heard,
Julian commanded that the body of Basil should be torn every day in
seven different parts, till his skin and flesh were entirely mangled.
This inhuman sentence was executed with rigour, and the martyr expired
under its severities, on the 28th day of June, A. D. 362.
Donatus, bishop of Arezzo, and Hilarinus, a hermit, suffered about the
same time; also Gordian, a Roman magistrate. Artemius, commander in
chief of the Roman forces in Egypt, being a christian, was deprived of
his commission, then of his estate, and lastly of his head.
The persecution raged dreadfully about the latter end of the year 363;
but, as many of the particulars have not been handed down to us, it is
necessary to remark in general, that in Palestine many were burnt alive,
others were dragged by their feet through the streets naked till they
expired; some were scalded to death, many stoned, and great numbers had
their brains beaten out with clubs. In Alexandria, innumerable were the
martyrs who suffered by the sword, burning, crucifixion, and being
stoned. In Arethusa, several were ripped open, and corn being put into
their bellies, swine were brought to feed therein, which, in devouring
the grain, likewise devoured the entrails of the martyrs, and, in
Thrace, Emilianus was burnt at a stake; and Domitius murdered in a cave,
whither he had fled for refuge.
The emperor, Julian the apostate, died of a wound which he received in
his Persian expedition, A. D. 363, and even while expiring, uttered the
most horrid blasphemies. He was succeeded by Jovian, who restored peace
to the church.
After the decease of Jovian, Valentinian succeeded to the empire, and
associated to himself Valens, who had the command in the east, and was
an Arian, of an unrelenting and persecuting disposition.
_Persecution of the Christians by the Goths and Vandals._
Many Scythian Goths having embraced Christianity about the time of
Constantine the Great, the light of the gospel spread itself
considerably in Scythia, though the two kings who ruled that country,
and the majority of the people continued pagans. Fritegern, king of the
West Goths, was an ally to the Romans, but Athanarick, king of the East
Goths, was at war with them. The christians, in the dominions of the
former, lived unmolested, but the latter, having been defeated by the
Romans, wreaked his vengeance on his christian subjects, commencing his
pagan injunctions in the year 370.
Eusebius, bishop of Samosata, makes a most distinguished figure in the
ecclesiastical history, and was one of the most eminent champions of
Christ against the Arian heresy. Eusebius, after being driven from his
church, and wandering about through Syria and Palestine, encouraging the
orthodox, was restored with other orthodox prelates to his see, which
however he did not long enjoy, for an Arian woman threw a tile at him
from the top of a house, which fractured his skull, and terminated his
life in the year 380.
The Vandals passing from Spain to Africa in the fifth century, under
their leader Genseric, committed the most unheard-of cruelties. They
persecuted the christians wherever they came, and even laid waste the
country as they passed, that the christians left behind, who had escaped
them, might not be able to subsist. Sometimes they freighted a vessel
with martyrs, let it drift out to sea, or set fire to it, with the
sufferers shackled on the decks.
Having seized and plundered the city of Carthage, they put the bishop,
and the clergy, into a leaky ship, and committed it to the mercy of the
waves, thinking that they must all perish of course; but providentially
the vessel arrived safe at Naples. Innumerable orthodox christians were
beaten, scourged, and banished to Capsur, where it pleased God to make
them the means of converting many of the Moors to christianity; but this
coming to the ears of Genseric, he sent orders that they and their new
converts should be tied by the feet to chariots, and dragged about until
they were dashed to pieces Pampinian, the bishop of Mansuetes, was
tortured to death with plates of hot iron; the bishop of Urice was
burnt, and the bishop of Habensa was banished, for refusing to deliver
up the sacred books which were in his possession.
The Vandalian tyrant Genseric, having made an expedition into Italy, and
plundered the city of Rome, returned to Africa, flushed with the success
of his arms. The Arians took this occasion to persuade him to persecute
the orthodox christians, as they assured him that they were friends to
the people of Rome.
After the decease of Huneric, his successor recalled him, and the rest
of the orthodox clergy; the Arians, taking the alarm, persuaded him to
banish them again, which he complied with, when Eugenius, exiled to
Languedoc in France, died there of the hardships he underwent on the 6th
of September, A. D. 305.
_Persecutions from about the Middle of the Fifth, to the Conclusion of
the Seventh Century._
Proterius was made a priest by Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, who was well
acquainted with his virtues, before he appointed him to preach. On the
death of Cyril, the see of Alexandria was filled by Discorus, an
inveterate enemy to the memory and family of his predecessor. Being
condemned by the council of Chalcedon for having embraced the errors of
Eutyches, he was deposed, and Proterius chosen to fill the vacant see,
who was approved of by the emperor. This occasioned a dangerous
insurrection, for the city of Alexandria was divided into two factions;
the one to espouse the cause of the old, and the other of the new
prelate. In one of the commotions, the Eutychians determined to wreak
their vengeance on Proterius, who fled to the church for sanctuary: but
on Good Friday, A. D. 457, a large body of them rushed into the church,
and barbarously murdered the prelate; after which they dragged the body
through the streets, insulted it, cut it to pieces, burnt it, and
scattered the ashes in the air.
Hermenigildus, a Gothic prince, was the eldest son of Leovigildus, a
king of the Goths, in Spain. This prince, who was originally an Arian,
became a convert to the orthodox faith, by means of his wife Ingonda.
When the king heard that his son had changed his religious sentiments,
he stripped him of the command at Seville, where he was governor, and
threatened to put him to death unless he renounced the faith he had
newly embraced. The prince, in order to prevent the execution of his
father's menaces, began to put himself into a posture of defence; and
many of the orthodox persuasion in Spain declared for him. The king,
exasperated at this act of rebellion, began to punish all the orthodox
christians who could be seized by his troops; and thus a very severe
persecution commenced: he likewise marched against his son at the head
of a very powerful army. The prince took refuge in Seville, from which
he fled, and was at length besieged and taken at Asieta. Loaded with
chains, he was sent to Seville, and at the feast of Easter refusing to
receive the Eucharist from an Arian bishop, the enraged king ordered his
guards to cut the prince to pieces, which they punctually performed,
April 13, A. D. 586.
Martin, bishop of Rome, was born at Todi, in Italy. He was naturally
inclined to virtue, and his parents bestowed on him an admirable
education. He opposed the heretics called Monothothelites, who were
patronized by the emperor Heraclius. Martin was condemned at
Constantinople, where he was exposed in the most public places to the
ridicule of the people, divested of all episcopal marks of distinction,
and treated with the greatest scorn and severity. After lying some
months in prison, Martin was sent to an island at some distance, and
there cut to pieces, A. D. 655.
John, bishop of Bergamo, in Lombardy, was a learned man, and a good
christian. He did his utmost endeavours to clear the church from the
errors of Arianism, and joining in this holy work with John, bishop of
Milan, he was very successful against the heretics, on which account he
was assassinated on July 11, A. D. 683.
Killien was born in Ireland, and received from his parents a pious and
christian education. He obtained the Roman pontiff's license to preach
to the pagans in Franconia, in Germany. At Wurtzburg he converted
Gozbert, the governor, whose example was followed by the greater part of
the people in two years after. Persuading Gozbert that his marriage with
his brother's widow was sinful, the latter had him beheaded, A. D. 689.
_Persecutions from the early part of the Eighth, to near the Conclusion
of the Tenth Century._
Boniface, archbishop of Mentz, and father of the German church, was an
Englishmen, and is, in ecclesiastical history, looked upon as one of the
brightest ornaments of this nation. Originally, his name was Winfred, or
Winfrith, and he was born at Kirton, in Devonshire, then part of the
West-Saxon kingdom. When he was only about six years of age, he began to
discover a propensity to reflection, and seemed solicitous to gain
information on religious subjects. Wolfrad, the abbot, finding that he
possessed a bright genius, as well as a strong inclination to study, had
him removed to Nutscelle, a seminary of learning in the diocese of
Winchester, where he would have a much greater opportunity of attaining
improvement than at Exeter.
After due study, the abbot seeing him qualified for the priesthood,
obliged him to receive that holy order when he was about thirty years
old. From which time he began to preach and labour for the salvation of
his fellow-creatures; he was released to attend a synod of bishops in
the kingdom of West-Saxons. He afterwards, in 719, went to Rome, where
Gregory II. who then sat in Peter's chair, received him with great
friendship, and finding him full of all the virtues that compose the
character of an apostolic missionary, dismissed him with commission at
large to preach the gospel to the pagans wherever he found them.
Passing through Lombardy and Bavaria, he came to Thuringia, which
country had before received the light of the gospel, he next visited
Utrecht, and then proceeded to Saxony, where he converted some thousands
to christianity.
During the ministry of this meek prelate, Pepin was declared king of
France. It was that prince's ambition to be crowned by the most holy
prelate he could find, and Boniface was pitched on to perform that
ceremony, which he did at Soissons, in 752. The next year, his great age
and many infirmities lay so heavy on him, that, with the consent of the
new king, the bishops, &c. of his diocese, he consecrated Lullus, his
countryman, and faithful disciple, and placed him in the see of Mentz.
When he had thus eased himself of his charge, he recommended the church
of Mentz to the care of the new bishop in very strong terms, desired he
would finish the church at Fuld, and see him buried in it, for his end
was near. Having left these orders, he took boat to the Rhine, and went
to Friesland, where he converted and baptized several thousands of
barbarous natives, demolished the temples, and raised churches on the
ruins of those superstitious structures. A day being appointed for
confirming a great number of new converts, he ordered them to assemble
in a new open plain, near the river Bourde. Thither he repaired the day
before; and, pitching a tent, determined to remain on the spot all
night, in order to be ready early in the morning.
Some pagans, who were his inveterate enemies, having intelligence of
this, poured down upon him and the companions of his mission in the
night, and killed him and fifty-two of his companions and attendants on
June 5, A. D. 755. Thus fell the great father of the Germanic church,
the honour of England, and the glory of the age in which he lived.
Forty-two persons of Armorian in Upper Phrygia, were martyred in the
year 845, by the Saracens, the circumstances of which transaction are as
follows:
In the reign of Theophilus, the Saracens ravaged many parts of the
eastern empire, gained several considerable advantages over the
christians, took the city of Armorian, and numbers suffered martyrdom.
Flora and Mary, two ladies of distinction, suffered martyrdom at the
same time.
Perfectus was born at Corduba, in Spain, and brought up in the christian
faith. Having a quick genius, he made himself master of all the useful
and polite literature of that age; and at the same time was not more
celebrated for his abilities than admired for his piety. At length he
took priest's orders, and performed the duties of his office with great
assiduity and punctuality. Publicly declaring Mahomet an impostor, he
was sentenced to be beheaded, and was accordingly executed, A. D. 850;
after which his body was honourably interred by the christians.
Adalbert, bishop of Prague, a Bohemian by birth, after being involved
in many troubles, began to direct his thoughts to the conversion of the
infidels, to which end he repaired to Dantzic, where he converted and
baptised many, which so enraged the pagan priests, that they fell upon
him, and despatched him with darts, on the 23d of April, A. D. 997.
_Persecutions in the Eleventh Century._
Alphage, archbishop of Canterbury, was descended from a considerable
family in Gloucestershire, and received an education suitable to his
illustrious birth. His parents were worthy christians, and Alphage
seemed to inherit their virtues.
The see of Winchester being vacant by the death of Ethelwold, Dunstan,
archbishop of Canterbury, as primate of all England, consecrated Alphage
to the vacant bishopric, to the general satisfaction of all concerned in
the diocese.
Dunstan had an extraordinary veneration for Alphage, and, when at the
point of death, made it his ardent request to God, that he might succeed
him in the see of Canterbury; which accordingly happened, though not
till about eighteen years after Dunstan's death in 1006.
After Alphage had governed the see of Canterbury about four years, with
great reputation to himself, and benefit to his people, the Danes made
an incursion into England, and laid siege to Canterbury. When the design
of attacking this city was known, many of the principal people made a
flight from it, and would have persuaded Alphage to follow their
example. But he, like a good pastor, would not listen to such a
proposal. While he was employed in assisting and encouraging the people,
Canterbury was taken by storm; the enemy poured into the town, and
destroyed all that came in their way by fire and sword. He had the
courage to address the enemy, and offer himself to their swords, as more
worthy of their rage than the people: he begged they might be saved, and
that they would discharge their whole fury upon him. They accordingly
seized him, tied his hands, insulted and abused him in a rude and
barbarous manner, and obliged him to remain on the spot until his church
was burnt, and the monks massacred. They then decimated all the
inhabitants, both ecclesiastics and laymen, leaving only every tenth
person alive; so that they put 7236 persons to death, and left only four
monks and 800 laymen alive, after which they confined the archbishop in
a dungeon, where they kept him close prisoner for several months.
During his confinement they proposed to him to redeem his liberty with
the sum of L3000, and to persuade the king to purchase their departure
out of the kingdom, with a further sum of L10,000. As Alphage's
circumstances would not allow him to satisfy the exorbitant demand, they
bound him, and put him to severe torments, to oblige him to discover the
treasure of the church; upon which they assured him of his life and
liberty, but the prelate piously persisted in refusing to give the
pagans any account of it. They remanded him to prison again, confined
him six days longer, and then, taking him prisoner with them to
Greenwich, brought him to trial there. He still remained inflexible with
respect to the church treasure; but exhorted them to forsake their
idolatry, and embrace christianity. This so greatly incensed the Danes,
that the soldiers dragged him out of the camp, and beat him
unmercifully. One of the soldiers, who had been converted by him,
knowing that his pains would be lingering, as his death was determined
on, actuated by a kind of barbarous compassion, cut off his head, and
thus put the finishing stroke to his martyrdom, April 19, A. D. 1012.
This transaction happened on the very spot where the church at
Greenwich, which is dedicated to him, now stands. After his death his
body was thrown into the Thames, but being found the next day, it was
buried in the cathedral of St. Paul's by the bishops of London and
Lincoln; from whence it was, in 1023, removed to Canterbury by
Ethelmoth, the archbishop of that province.
Gerard, a Venitian, devoted himself to the service of God from his
tender years: entered into a religious house for some time, and then
determined to visit the Holy Land. Going into Hungary, he became
acquainted with Stephen, the king of that country, who made him bishop
of Chonad.
Ouvo and Peter, successors of Stephen, being deposed, Andrew, son of
Ladislaus, cousin-german to Stephen, had then a tender of the crown made
him upon condition that he would employ his authority in extirpating the
christian religion out of Hungary. The ambitious prince came into the
proposal, but Gerard being informed of his impious bargain, thought it
his duty to remonstrate against the enormity of Andrew's crime, and
persuade him to withdraw his promise. In this view he undertook to go to
that prince, attended by three prelates, full of like zeal for religion.
The new king was at Alba Regalis, but, as the four bishops were going to
cross the Danube, they were stopped by a party of soldiers posted there.
They bore an attack of a shower of stones patiently, when the soldiers
beat them unmercifully, and at length despatched them with lances. Their
martyrdoms happened in the year 1045.