The Soldiers Purged

One could tell of countless people who showed admirable zeal for godliness toward the God of the universe, not only from the time the persecution against everyone was set in motion, but long before, while peace still held. For he who had received the authority was only just beginning to stir, as if from a deep stupor. In the time after Decius and Valerian he was still making attempts on the churches secretly and out of sight. He did not strip for war against us all at once, but was still only testing those in the army camps, for he thought that the rest could easily be taken if he first fought down and overcame these. Then one could see a great many of those in military service most gladly welcoming private life, so that they would not have to deny their godliness toward the Creator of the universe. [a] For when the camp commander, whoever he was, first set about the persecution against the troops, sifting and purging those enrolled in the camps, he gave them the choice: obey, and enjoy the rank that was theirs, or else, if they set themselves against the order, be stripped of it. A great many soldiers of Christ’s kingdom then, without delay and without any dispute, preferred the confession of him to the seeming glory and prosperity they enjoyed. [b] And here and there, rarely, one or two of them received in exchange for their godly steadfastness not only the loss of rank but death as well. For at that time the one carrying out the plot was still acting with some moderation, and dared to go as far as blood only in some cases. The great number of believers, it seems, still frightened him and kept him from rushing into war against them all at once. But when he stripped for the fight more openly, words cannot describe how many and what kind of martyrs of God the people living throughout all the cities and the countryside could see with their own eyes. [d]