Forced to Sacrifice

Then, then indeed, very many leaders of the churches contended eagerly under terrible torments and displayed great contests worth the telling. But countless others, their souls numbed beforehand by cowardice, gave way readily at the very first assault. Of the rest, each went through different kinds of torture. One had his body flogged with whips; another was punished with unbearable racking and scraping, and from these some had already met an unhappy end. [a] Others again went through the contest in other ways. One man, while others shoved him forward by force and brought him to the foul and unholy sacrifices, was let go as though he had sacrificed, even though he had not. Another had not gone near at all or touched anything polluted, but when others said that he had sacrificed, he went away bearing the false charge in silence. [b] Another was picked up half dead and thrown aside as if already dead. Again, someone lying on the ground was dragged a long way by the feet and counted among those who had sacrificed. One shouted and testified in a loud voice that he refused the sacrifice; another cried out that he was a Christian, shining in the confession of the saving name; another insisted that he had not sacrificed and never would. Even so, these too were struck on the mouth and silenced by the many hands of the company of soldiers drawn up for this purpose, beaten on the face and cheeks, and driven out by force. So much did the enemies of godliness value seeming, by any means at all, to have succeeded. But these things did not succeed for them against the holy martyrs. And what words of ours could suffice to describe them accurately?