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PG 10 · cols. 95–97
Julius Africanus (dubium), Passio S. Symphorosae et septem filiorum ejus
Editors' preface
PASSIO S. SYMPHOROSAE ET SEPTEM FILIORUM EJUS.
THE PASSION OF ST SYMPHOROSA AND HER SEVEN SONS.
I. Cum fabricasset Adrianus palatium, et id dedicare vellet ritu illo nefario, coepissetque sacrificiis idolorum ac daemonum qui in idolis habitant, flagitare responsa, responderunt et dixerunt: « Symphorosa vidua cum septem filiis suis laniat nos quotidie invocando Deum suum. Ista itaque si cum filiis suis sacrificaverit, promittimus nos omnia praestare quae petitis. » Tunc Adrianus jussit eam teneri cum filiis, et blandis eos sermonibus hortabatur ut ad sacrificandum idolis consentirent. Cui beata Symphorosa dixit : Vir meus Getulius, cum fratre suo Amantio, tribuni tui cum essent, pro Christi nomine passi sunt diversa supplicia, ne idolis consentirent ad immolandum, et quasi boni athletae daemones tuos moriendo vicerunt. Elegerunt enim magis decollari quam vinci, passi mortem ; quae pro nomine Christi suscepta, inter homines terrenos quidem ignominiam eis peperit temporalem, inter angelos vero decus et gloriam sempiternam, inter quos nunc gradientes, et tropaea passionum suarum dantes, cum aeterno Rege vita aeterna fruuntur in coelis.
I. When Hadrian had built a palace and wished to dedicate it with that wicked rite, and had begun to demand responses by sacrifices to idols and to the demons that dwell in idols, they answered and said: "The widow Symphorosa with her seven sons torments us daily by invoking her God. If, therefore, she sacrifices with her sons, we promise to perform all that you ask." Then Hadrian ordered her to be apprehended with her sons, and exhorted them with smooth words to consent to sacrifice to the idols. To whom blessed Symphorosa said: My husband Getulius, with his brother Amantius, when they were your tribunes, suffered diverse torments for the name of Christ, rather than consent to sacrifice to idols, and like good athletes conquered your demons by dying. For they chose rather to be beheaded than to be conquered, suffering death; which, undergone for the name of Christ, brought forth for them among earthly men indeed a temporal disgrace, but among the angels everlasting honour and glory; walking now among them, and presenting the trophies of their sufferings, they enjoy eternal life in heaven with the eternal King.
II. Adrianus imperator dixit ad sanctam Symphorosam
II. The emperor Hadrian said to holy Symphorosa:
Editors' notes and page, col. 95
Footnotes
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Aring., Rom. subter. lib. IV, cap. 17.
Aringhi, Roma subterranea, book IV, chapter 17.
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Baron. ad an. 138, § 5.
Baronius, at the year 138, § 5.
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Tillem., Mém. eccl. tom. II, pagg. 241, 595.
Tillemont, Mémoires ecclésiastiques, vol. II, pp. 241, 595.
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Bolland., Act. SS. Junii tom. IV, pag. 350.
The Bollandists, Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. IV, p. 350.
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Confer Euseb. lib. II Vitæ Constantin., cap. 50.
Compare Eusebius, Life of Constantine, book II, chapter 50.
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(87) ‹anchor: Vir meus Getulius› · call in col 95
Eorum memoriam celebrant Martyrologia ad diem 10 Junii, quo etiam die Surius et Bollandiani eorum Acta exhibent. In ms. Colbertino: Vir meus Zoticus cum fratre suo Amantio tribuno tuo cum essent ambo, etc.
The martyrologies celebrate their memory on 10 June, and on that day Surius and the Bollandists also give their Acts. In the Colbert manuscript: My husband Zoticus, with his brother Amantius, when they were both your tribune, etc.
(printed under page 54)
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Cod. Colbert., tropæa passionum suarum laudantes.
The Colbert codex: praising the trophies of their sufferings.
(printed under page 54)
Page
- running head: 95 JULIUS AFR
- marginal letters: A rum cum id opus; B prius Symphorosa; C I. Cum fabricasset; D gerunt enim magis
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: Latin only, no Greek printed; begins with fragment rum; editors' matter: rum cum id opus ... quo scilicet tem-; full-width title lines PASSIO S. SY... and SEPTEM FILI... cut off at right edge, not set; words split at column break: tem-, Sym-
- other: a full-width band stands across cols 95/96 in mid-page: the 3 paragraph(s) above it in col 96 are set here, after the 2 above it in col 95 (reading order, moved on receipt); the band itself (its title lines) is not set by the volunteer page: set it here, at the move, with full_width
- other: the column opens with the end of the previous work (another unit); not set here: the unit begins at I. Cum fabricasset Adrianus palatium
: Aut cum filiis tuis sacrifica diis omnipotentibus, aut te ipsam cum filiis tuis sacrificari faciam. Beata Symphorosa respondit : Et unde mihi tantum boni, ut ego merear cum filiis meis offerri hostia Deo ? Adrianus imperator dixit : Ego te diis meis sacrificari faciam. Beata Symphorosa respondit : Dii tui me in sacrificium accipere non possunt : sed si pro nomine Christi Dei mei incensa fuero, illos daemones tuos magis exuro. Adrianus imperator dixit : Elige tibi unum ex duobus : aut sacrifica diis meis, aut malo interitu finieris. Beata Symphorosa respondit : Tu existimas quod possit animus meus aliquo terrore mutari, cum ego desiderem cum viro meo Getulio, quem pro Christi nomine interfecisti, requiescere. Tunc Adrianus imperator jussit eam duci ad fanum Herculis, et ibi primo alapis caedi, et post haec capillis suspendi. Sed cum nulla ratione nulloque timore posset eam a bono proposito revocare, jussit eam alligato ad collum ingenti saxo in flumen praecipitari. Cujus corpus colligens frater ejus Eugenius, principalis curiae Tiburtinae, in suburbana ejusdem civitatis sepelivit.
Either sacrifice with your sons to the almighty gods, or I shall cause you yourself to be sacrificed with your sons. Blessed Symphorosa answered: And whence comes so great a good to me, that I should be counted worthy to be offered with my sons as a victim to God? The emperor Hadrian said: I shall cause you to be sacrificed to my gods. Blessed Symphorosa answered: Your gods cannot receive me in sacrifice; but if I am burned for the name of Christ my God, I burn those demons of yours all the more. The emperor Hadrian said: Choose for yourself one of the two: either sacrifice to my gods, or you shall perish by an evil death. Blessed Symphorosa answered: Do you think that my mind can be changed by any terror, when I desire to rest with my husband Getulius, whom you slew for the name of Christ? Then the emperor Hadrian ordered her to be led to the temple of Hercules, and there first to be beaten with blows on the face, and after this to be hung up by the hair. But when by no reasoning and by no fear he could recall her from her good resolve, he ordered a huge stone to be bound to her neck and her to be cast headlong into the river. And her brother Eugenius, a leading member of the curia of Tibur, gathering up her body, buried it in the outskirts of the same city.
Editors' notes and page, col. 96
Footnotes
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Hæc responsio cum sequenti interrogatione deest in cod. Colbertino.
This answer, with the question that follows, is missing in the Colbert codex.
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Sur., Cardulus et cod. Colbertin., Zotico.
Surius, Cardulus and the Colbert codex: Zoticus.
(printed under page 54)
Page
- running head: JULIUS AFRICANUS. 96
- marginal letters: A pore, ut notat; B Huc usque vir; C phorosam : Aut; D perator jussit
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: Latin only, no Greek printed; begins with fragments pore, and phorosam; editors' matter: pore, ut notat ... pertinere noscuntur.; full-width title lines O S. SYMPHOROSAE / ET / EM FILIORUM EJUS. cut off at left edge, not set
- other: the 3 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 95 (reading order, moved on receipt)
III. Alia vero die jussit Adrianus imperator simul omnes septem filios ejus sibi praesentari, quos cum ad sacrificandum idolis provocaret, et nullo pacto eos videret suis minis atque terroribus consentire, jussit circa Herculis templum septem stipites figi, et ibi eos ad trochleas extendi. Et primum Crescentem praecepit in gutture transfigi; secundum Julianum in pectore pungi; tertium Nemesium in corde percuti; quartum Primitivum in umbilico vulnerari; quintum Justinum aversum per dorsum perforari gladio; sextum Stracteum in latere vulnerari; septimum vero Eugenium a summo usque deorsum findi.
III. And on another day the Emperor Hadrian commanded all her seven sons to be presented to him together; and when he urged them to sacrifice to idols, and saw that they in no wise yielded to his threats and terrors, he commanded seven stakes to be fixed around the temple of Hercules, and that they should be stretched there upon pulleys. And the first, Crescens, he ordered to be transfixed in the throat; the second, Julianus, to be stabbed in the breast; the third, Nemesius, to be struck in the heart; the fourth, Primitivus, to be wounded in the navel; the fifth, Justinus, turned away, to be pierced through the back with a sword; the sixth, Stracteus, to be wounded in the side; and the seventh, Eugenius, to be cleft from top to bottom.
IV. Altera vero die veniens Adrianus imperator ad fanum Herculis, jussit corpora eorum simul auferri, et projici in foveam altam : et imposuerunt pontifices nomen loco illi, Ad septem Biothanatos. Post haec quievit persecutio anno uno et mensibus sex; in quo spatio omnium martyrum honorata sunt sancta corpora, et constructis tumulis condita cum omni diligentia, quorum nomina descripta sunt in libro vitae. Natalis vero sanctorum martyrum Christi, beatae Symphorosae et septem filiorum ejus, Crescentis, Juliani, Nemesii, Primitivi, Justini, Stractei et Eugenii, celebratur sub die 15 Kalendas Augusti. Eorum corpora requiescunt in via Tiburtina milliario ab Urbe octavo, regnante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
IV. And the next day the Emperor Hadrian, coming to the shrine of Hercules, commanded their bodies to be taken away together and cast into a deep pit; and the pontiffs gave a name to that place, At the Seven Biothanati. After these things the persecution ceased for one year and six months; in which space of time the holy bodies of all the martyrs were honoured, and, tombs having been built, were buried with all diligence, whose names are written in the book of life. And the birthday of the holy martyrs of Christ, the blessed Symphorosa and her seven sons, Crescens, Julianus, Nemesius, Primitivus, Justinus, Stracteus, and Eugenius, is celebrated on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of August. Their bodies rest on the Tiburtine Way at the eighth milestone from the City, under the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Editors' notes and page, col. 97
Footnotes
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Cod. Colbertin., Extacteum, edit. Carduli, Stacteum, quo nomine ab omnibus infra designatur.
The Colbert codex has Extacteum, Cardulus's edition Stacteum, the name by which all of them designate it below.
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In uno cod. Colbertin. et alio ex Sorbona, hic aliqua inserta sunt de morte Adriani, quæ paulo post horum martyrum necem contigisse ibi refertur.
In one Colbert codex and another from the Sorbonne, some matter is inserted here on the death of Hadrian, which is there reported to have happened shortly after the slaying of these martyrs.
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Commentariorum de Bibl. Vindob. t. V, p. 297 (p. 623 edit. Kollarii).
Commentaries on the Vienna Library, vol. V, p. 297 (p. 623 of Kollar's edition).
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De libris Cestorum Suidas: Ἀφρικανὸς, ὁ Σέξτος χρηματίσας, φιλόσοφος Λίβυς, ὁ τοὺς Κεστοὺς γεγραφὼς ἐν βιβλίοις κδ'. Εἰσὶ δὲ οἱονεὶ φυσικὰ ἔχοντα ἐκ λόγων τε καὶ ἐπαοιδῶν, καὶ γραπτῶν τινων χαρακτήρων ἰάσεις τε, καὶ ἀλλοίων ἐνεργειῶν. « Africanus, dictus Sextus, philosophus Afer, qui Cestos scripsit libris 24 (juxta Eusebium 9, juxta Photium 14). Sunt autem veluti quædam physica, quæ continent remedia ex sermonibus et incantamentis, et quibusdam scriptis characteribus aliisque rebus efficacibus. » Fragmenta passim apud Hippiatricos et Geoponicos occurrunt præter tractatum De apparatu bellico, qui hujus operis pars cen- (continues)
On the books of the Cesti, Suidas: "Africanus, called Sextus, a Libyan philosopher, who wrote the Cesti in 24 books. They are a kind of natural lore, containing cures by words and incantations and certain written characters, and by other operations." "Africanus, called Sextus, an African philosopher, who wrote the Cesti in 24 books (according to Eusebius 9, according to Photius 14). They are a kind of natural lore, containing remedies from sayings and incantations, and from certain written characters and other efficacious things." Fragments occur here and there among the writers on veterinary medicine and on agriculture, besides the treatise On Military Equipment, which is reck- (continues)
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Page
- running head: 97 SPURIA. — DE REBUS PERSICIS POST CHRISTUM NATUM. 98
- marginal letters: A III. Alia vero; B ad fanum; C ΑΦΡΙΚΑΝΟΥ
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: top half (III. Alia vero ... Amen.) is Latin only, no Greek printed; below Amen the titles of the next work (AFRICANI NARRATIO, Greek title), Aretin's source line and his ADMONITIO (Complures eruditi ...) with its foot notes 93 and 94 belong to africani_narratio_de_rebus_persicis - pointer only
- other: the column continues with Ἐκ Περσίδος ἐγνώσθη (another unit); not set here