An Account of the Pious Martyrs and Witnesses of Jesus Christ who Suffered…

That is, from the death of Christ to the year

This first century did not pass without the shedding of much blood of the saints; for since Jesus Christ Himself, the leader of all true believers, was subject to it, it was just that His members should follow in the same path; yet John died before Christ. But after the death of Christ the fire of persecution raged fiercely, consuming nearly all of the beloved apostles and friends of Christ, according to the flesh. We have described those who followed Christ, their Captain, into suffering and death, in the order of time; they are these: Stephen, the deacon; the apostles James, Philip, Barnabas, Mark the evangelist, Peter, Paul; some companions and friends of Paul, such as Aristarchus, Epaphras, Silas, Onesiphorus, Prochorus, Nicanor, Parmenas, Olympas, Carpus, Trophimus, Materus, Egyetus, Hermagoras, Onesimus, Dionysius of Athens, and Timothy; but the last of these was killed a few years after the others. [n96-1] Meanwhile those named before are followed by the apostles Andrew, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, Simon Zelotes, Matthias, Luke the evangelist, Antipas, the faithful martyr of Jesus, John, whom Jesus loved, Urticinus, Vitalus, and so on, all of whom received the martyr's crown, as may be seen from the account that follows.

To Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we have given the first place among the martyrs of the new covenant; not in the order of time, for in that respect John was before, and his death came first; but because of the worthiness of the person, since He is the head of all the holy martyrs, through whom they all must be saved.