The Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne

The country where the arena was prepared for them was Gaul. Its chief cities, famous above all the others there, are Lyons and Vienne, and the Rhone River passes through both of them, its broad current flowing around the whole region. [a] The most distinguished churches there sent a written account of the martyrs to the churches in Asia and Phrygia, telling what had been done among them in the following way. I will set down their own words. [b] “The servants of Christ living as strangers at Vienne and Lyons in Gaul, to the brothers and sisters throughout Asia and Phrygia who hold the same faith and hope of redemption that we do: peace and grace and glory from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Then, after some other introductory remarks, they begin their account like this: “The greatness of the affliction here, the fury of the Gentiles against the saints, and all that the blessed martyrs endured, we are not able to describe exactly, nor could it possibly be put into writing. [d] For the adversary fell on us with all his strength, already giving a foretaste of his coming, which will be unrestrained. He went through everything, training his own people and drilling them in advance against the servants of God, so that we were not only shut out of houses and baths and the marketplace, but any of us was forbidden to be seen by them anywhere at all. But the grace of God led the fight against him. It rescued the weak, and it set against him firm pillars, able by their endurance to draw the whole onslaught of the evil one onto themselves. They came to close quarters with him, bearing every kind of insult and punishment. Counting much as little, they hurried on to Christ, showing that in very truth ‘the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.’ [e]

“First they nobly endured everything the whole populace heaped on them in a mass: shouting, blows, being dragged about, plundering, stoning, being shut in, and all that an enraged crowd likes to do to its enemies and foes. Then they were brought up into the forum by the tribune and the authorities of the city, examined in front of the whole crowd, and, having confessed, they were locked in prison until the governor arrived. [g]

“Afterward they were brought before the governor, and he treated us with every kind of cruelty. Then Vettius Epagathus, one of the brothers, intervened. He had reached the fullness of love toward God and toward his neighbor, and his way of life had been so exact that, young as he was, he was held to equal the testimony given of the elder Zechariah. He had indeed ‘walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless,’ and was tireless in every service to his neighbor, with great zeal for God and fervent in spirit. Being such a man, he could not bear the judgment so unreasonably passed against us. He was deeply indignant, and asked to be heard himself in defense of the brothers, to show that there is nothing godless or impious among us. [h] But those around the tribunal shouted him down, for he was a man of standing, and the governor would not allow the just request he had made. He only asked him whether he too was a Christian. When he confessed it in the clearest voice, he too was taken up into the ranks of the martyrs. He was called the Advocate of the Christians, but he had the Advocate within himself, the Spirit of Zechariah. He showed it by the fullness of his love, being content to lay down even his own life in defense of the brothers. For he was, and is, a genuine disciple of Christ, ‘following the Lamb wherever he goes.’ [i]

“From then on the rest were sorted out. Those who were to be the first martyrs were plainly ready, and they completed the confession of their witness with all eagerness. But it also became plain who were unready and untrained and still weak, unable to bear the strain of a great contest. About ten of these miscarried. They caused us great grief and measureless sorrow, and they checked the eagerness of the others who had not yet been arrested. Yet these others, though they suffered every kind of terror, still stood by the martyrs and did not leave them. [l] Then we were all greatly shaken because their confession was uncertain. It was not that we feared the punishments being inflicted; we looked to the end, and dreaded that someone might fall away. But day by day those who were worthy were arrested and filled up the number of those who had fallen, so that all the zealous people from the two churches were gathered in, those through whom above all things here had been held together.

“Some Gentile household slaves of our people were arrested too, since the governor had publicly ordered that all of us be searched out. Through a snare of Satan these slaves, afraid of the tortures they saw the saints suffering, and urged on to it by the soldiers, falsely accused us of Thyestean feasts and Oedipean unions, and of things it is not right for us to speak of or even think, or even to believe that anything of the kind ever happened among human beings. [m] When these charges were spread abroad, everyone turned savage against us, so that even those who had been moderate toward us before, because they knew us well, were now exceedingly harsh and ground their teeth at us. And what our Lord had said was being fulfilled: ‘A time will come when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.’ [o] From then on the holy martyrs endured punishments beyond all description, while Satan strained to have some of the slanders spoken by them as well.

“The whole fury of crowd, governor and soldiers fell beyond all measure on Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne; on Maturus, newly baptized but a noble contender; on Attalus, a native of Pergamum, who had always been a pillar and foundation of the church here; and on Blandina. Through her Christ showed that things which look cheap, unsightly and contemptible to people are counted worthy of great glory with God, because of love for him that is shown in power and does not boast in appearance. [p] For while we were all afraid, and her mistress according to the flesh, who was herself one of the martyrs in the contest, was in anguish that Blandina would not even be able to make her confession boldly because of her body’s weakness, Blandina was filled with such power that those who took turns torturing her in every way from dawn until evening grew exhausted and gave up. They admitted they were beaten and had nothing left they could do to her. They marveled that she was still breathing, when her whole body was torn and laid open, and they testified that a single kind of torture was enough to drive out the life, let alone so many and such terrible ones. [r] But the blessed woman, like a noble athlete, kept gaining fresh strength in her confession. Her refreshment, her rest and her relief from what was being done to her was to say, ‘I am a Christian, and nothing wicked is done among us.’

“Sanctus too endured nobly, beyond measure and beyond all human strength, every outrage people inflicted on him. The lawless hoped that by the persistence and severity of the tortures they would hear something improper from him. But he stood against them with such firmness that he would not even tell them his own name, or his nation, or the city he came from, or whether he was slave or free. To every question he answered in Latin, ‘I am a Christian.’ This he confessed again and again in place of name and city and race and everything else, and the Gentiles heard no other word from him. So the governor and the torturers became bitterly determined to conquer him. When they had nothing left to do to him, they finally pressed red-hot bronze plates against the tenderest parts of his body. These burned, but he himself remained unbending and unyielding, firm in his confession, refreshed and strengthened by the heavenly spring of the water of life that flows out of Christ’s belly. [s] His poor body was a witness to what had happened: all one wound and bruise, drawn up and stripped of any outward human shape. In it Christ, suffering, accomplished great glories, bringing the adversary to nothing and showing, as an example for the rest, that nothing is fearful where the Father’s love is, and nothing painful where Christ’s glory is. [t] For some days later the lawless men tortured the martyr again. His body was swollen and inflamed, so that he could not bear even the touch of a hand, and they thought that if they applied the same tortures they would overcome him, or that by dying under them he would make the rest afraid. Not only did nothing of the kind happen to him, but beyond all human expectation his poor body straightened and stood upright under the later tortures, and took back its former look and the use of its limbs. So through the grace of Christ the second racking became for him not punishment but healing.

“Biblis was one of those who had denied, and the devil supposed he had already swallowed her. Wanting to condemn her through slander as well, he brought her to torture, to force her, as one already fragile and cowardly, to say godless things about us. [u] But under the torture she came to her senses, and woke, so to speak, out of a deep sleep. The passing punishment reminded her of the eternal punishment in Gehenna, and she flatly contradicted the slanderers, saying, ‘How could people like that eat children, when they are not even allowed to eat the blood of unreasoning animals?’ From then on she confessed herself a Christian and was added to the ranks of the martyrs. [v]

“When the tyrants’ punishments had been made powerless by Christ through the endurance of the blessed ones, the devil devised other schemes: confinement in the darkest and most dreadful part of the prison, stretching of their feet in the stocks out to the fifth hole, and the other outrages that angry underlings, full of the devil besides, usually inflict on those locked up. So most of them were suffocated in the prison, as many as the Lord willed to depart in this way, showing his glory. For some who had been tortured so cruelly that it seemed they could not live even with every care remained in the prison, without human attention but restored by the Lord and strengthened in body and soul, and they urged on and comforted the rest. But the young ones, recently arrested, whose bodies had not been tortured before, could not bear the weight of confinement and died inside.

“The blessed Pothinus, who had been entrusted with the service of the office of bishop at Lyons, was over ninety years old and very weak in body. He could barely breathe because of the bodily weakness that lay on him, but he was strengthened by eagerness of spirit through his longing for martyrdom, and he too was dragged to the tribunal. His body was undone by age and disease, but his soul was kept in him so that through it Christ might triumph. [w] He was carried to the tribunal by the soldiers, escorted by the city authorities and the whole crowd, who raised every kind of shout against him as if he were Christ himself, and he gave the good testimony. [x] When the governor questioned him as to who the God of the Christians was, he said, ‘If you are worthy, you will know.’ Then he was dragged about without mercy and suffered blows of every kind. Those near him abused him in every way with hands and feet, with no respect for his age, while those farther off threw at him whatever each had in hand. All of them thought it a great offense and impiety if anyone fell short in his brutality toward him, for they supposed they were avenging their gods this way. Scarcely breathing, he was thrown into the prison, and two days later he breathed his last.

“Then a great work of God’s ordering took place, and the measureless mercy of Jesus was shown, in a way rarely seen in the brotherhood but not beyond the skill of Christ. For those who had denied at their first arrest were locked up too and shared in the sufferings; at this point their denial did them no good at all. Those who confessed what they were were locked up as Christians, with no other charge brought against them. But the others were held from then on as murderers and defiled men, punished twice as hard as the rest. For the first were lightened by the joy of martyrdom, the hope of what had been promised, their love for Christ and the Spirit of the Father, while the second were tormented by their conscience, so that as they were led past, their very faces marked them out from all the rest. The first went out cheerful, much glory and grace blended in their faces, so that even their chains hung on them like a becoming ornament, as on a bride adorned with embroidered fringes of gold; and they gave off the fragrance of Christ, so that some thought they had been anointed with worldly perfume. The others were downcast, humbled, unsightly and covered with every disgrace, and on top of that the Gentiles reviled them as base and cowardly. They bore the charge of murderers and had lost the all-honorable, glorious and life-giving name. When the rest saw this they were strengthened, and those who were arrested confessed without hesitation, not even entertaining a thought the devil might suggest.” [y]

After saying some other things in between, they continue: “After this, then, the martyrdoms of their departure took every form. They wove one crown out of different colors and flowers of every kind, and offered it to the Father. So it was fitting that the noble athletes, having endured a many-sided contest and won a great victory, should receive the great crown of incorruption. So Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina and Attalus were led out in public to the beasts, to be a common spectacle of the Gentiles’ inhumanity, a day of beast fights being given on purpose because of our people. Maturus and Sanctus went again through every punishment in the amphitheater, as if they had suffered nothing at all before, or rather as if they had already beaten their opponent in several bouts and were now contending for the crown itself. Once more they endured the run between the whips that is customary there, the dragging about by the beasts, and everything the frenzied people, shouting from every side, called and clamored for; and last of all the iron chair, on which their bodies were roasted until the reek of it filled them. Even then the persecutors did not stop, but raged all the more, wanting to conquer their endurance. But even so they heard nothing from Sanctus except the word of confession he had been accustomed to say from the beginning. So these two, after their lives had held out a long time through the great contest, were at last sacrificed. All that day they had been made a spectacle to the world, in place of all the variety of the gladiatorial shows.

“Blandina was hung on a stake and set out as food for the beasts that were let loose. Because she was seen hanging in the form of a cross, and because of her earnest prayer, she put great eagerness into those who were contending. In the contest they saw with their outward eyes, in the person of their sister, the One who was crucified for them, so that he might persuade those who believe in him that everyone who suffers for the glory of Christ has fellowship forever with the living God. None of the beasts touched her then, and she was taken down from the stake and returned to the prison, kept for another contest. So by winning through more bouts she would make the condemnation of the crooked serpent past appeal, and she would spur on the brothers and sisters. Small, weak and despised as she was, she had put on Christ, the great and invincible athlete; she had overcome the adversary in bout after bout, and through the contest she had been crowned with the crown of incorruption. [z]

“Attalus too was loudly demanded by the crowd, for he was well known. He came in a ready contender because of his clear conscience, since he had been genuinely trained in the Christian ranks and had always been a witness to the truth among us. He was led around the amphitheater with a placard carried in front of him on which was written in Latin, ‘This is Attalus the Christian,’ and the people were swelling with fury against him. But when the governor learned that he was a Roman, he ordered him taken back to join the rest who were in the prison, about whom he had written to Caesar and was waiting for his decision.

“The time in between was not idle or fruitless for them; through their endurance the measureless mercy of Christ was shown. Through the living the dead were made alive, and martyrs showed favor to those who were not martyrs, and there was great joy for the virgin mother in receiving back alive those she had miscarried as dead. For through the martyrs most of those who had denied were taken back into the womb, conceived again, rekindled, and taught to confess. Alive now and braced, they went up to the tribunal to be questioned again by the governor, God making it sweet for them, who does not desire the death of the sinner but is kind toward repentance. [aa] For Caesar had written that they should be put to death, but that any who denied should be released. The festival here was beginning to gather, and it is thronged with people coming together from all the nations, and the governor brought the blessed ones to the tribunal, making a theater of them and parading them before the crowds. So he examined them again. Those who seemed to have Roman citizenship he beheaded, and the rest he sent to the beasts. [ac]

“Christ was greatly glorified in those who had earlier denied him, for, against all the Gentiles’ expectation, they now confessed. They were examined by themselves, as if they were about to be released, and confessing, they were added to the ranks of the martyrs. But those stayed outside who had never had a trace of faith, nor any sense of the wedding garment, nor any thought of the fear of God, but who by their very way of life brought slander on the Way: the sons of destruction. [ad] All the rest were added to the church. While these were being examined, a certain Alexander, a Phrygian by birth and a physician by profession, who had lived many years in the Gallic provinces and was known to nearly everyone for his love toward God and his boldness of speech (for he too had a share of the apostolic gift), stood beside the tribunal and by nods urged them to confess. To those standing around the tribunal he seemed to be in labor. The crowds were angry that those who had denied before were confessing again, and they shouted against Alexander as the one causing it. The governor had him brought forward and asked him who he was, and when he said he was a Christian, the governor flew into a rage and condemned him to the beasts. The next day he went in together with Attalus, for the governor, to please the crowd, had handed Attalus over to the beasts again. They went through every instrument devised for punishment in the amphitheater and endured a very great contest, and at last they too were sacrificed. Alexander neither groaned nor muttered at all, but talked with God in his heart. Attalus, when he was set on the iron chair and was being burned all around, and the reek was rising from his body, said to the crowd in Latin, ‘Look, this is eating people, what you are doing. We do not eat people, nor do we do anything else wicked.’ When he was asked what name God has, he answered, ‘God does not have a name as a man does.’

“After all these, on the last day of the gladiatorial shows, Blandina was brought in again, together with Ponticus, a boy of about fifteen. Every day they had been brought in to watch the punishment of the rest, and they were pressed to swear by the crowd’s idols. Because they stood firm and treated the idols as nothing, the crowd grew savage against them, so that they neither pitied the boy’s age nor respected the woman. They put them through every horror and led them through the whole round of punishment, pressing them again and again to swear, but they could not make them do it. Ponticus, spurred on by his sister, so that even the Gentiles could see it was she who was urging him on and steadying him, endured every punishment nobly and gave up his spirit. Blessed Blandina, last of all, like a noble mother who has encouraged her children and sent them ahead of her as victors to the King, went through all her children’s contests herself and hurried after them, glad and exulting at her departure, as though invited to a wedding supper rather than thrown to beasts. After the whips, after the beasts, after the frying pan, she was at last put into a woven basket and thrown to a bull. She was tossed about a long time by the animal, but she no longer felt what was happening, because of her hope and her hold on what had been entrusted to her and her converse with Christ. She too was sacrificed, and the Gentiles themselves admitted that never among them had a woman suffered so much and so terribly. [ae]

“But not even so were their madness and cruelty toward the saints satisfied. Wild and barbarous tribes, stirred up by the wild Beast, were hard to stop, and their outrage found a new beginning of its own in the bodies. Being beaten did not shame them, for they had no human reasoning; rather it inflamed their anger like a beast’s. The governor and the people alike showed the same unjust hatred toward us, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘Let the lawless still act lawlessly, and let the righteous still be counted righteous.’ [ag] For they threw to the dogs those who had been suffocated in the prison, keeping careful watch night and day so that none of them would be buried by us. Then they set out what the beasts and the fire had left, some of it torn and some charred, and the heads of the others together with what had been cut away from them, and in the same way kept them unburied under a military guard for many days. Some raged and gnashed their teeth at them, looking for some greater vengeance to take on them; others laughed and jeered, magnifying their own idols and crediting them with the punishment of the Christians. And the more considerate, who seemed to feel some sympathy, kept up a stream of mockery, saying, ‘Where is their God, and what good has their religion done them, which they chose even above their own lives?’ Such was the variety of what came from them; but on our side we were in great grief, because we could not hide the bodies in the earth. Night gave us no help in this, money did not persuade them, and pleading did not move them. They kept watch in every way, as if they would gain something great if the bodies got no burial.” Then after other things they say: “So the bodies of the martyrs, after being made a public example in every way and left out in the open air for six days, were afterward burned to ashes by the lawless men and swept into the Rhone, which flows close by, so that not even a remnant of them might be seen on the earth any longer. [ah] And they did this as though they could conquer God and take away the martyrs’ rebirth, so that, as they said, ‘they may have no hope of resurrection. Trusting in that, they bring in this strange new religion among us, despise terrors, and go to their death readily and with joy. Now let us see if they will rise again, and if their God can help them and rescue them out of our hands.’”