Romanus at Antioch

What happened to Romanus on the same day at Antioch also deserves to be recorded. He was a native of Palestine, a deacon and exorcist in the church of Caesarea. He was present when the churches were being destroyed, and he saw many men, with women and children, going up in crowds to the idols and sacrificing. In his great zeal for godliness he could not bear the sight, and he rebuked them in a loud voice. [a] He was arrested for his boldness and proved a most noble witness of the truth, if ever there was one. When the judge told him he was to die by fire, he received the sentence with a cheerful face and a most ready mind, and was led away. He was bound to the stake and the wood piled up around him, and as they waited for the emperor to arrive before lighting the fire, he cried out, “Where is the fire for me?”

When he had said this, he was summoned before the emperor again and subjected to the unheard-of torture of having his tongue cut out. He bore even this with courage, and showed everyone by his deeds that the divine power is present with those who endure any hardship whatever for godliness’ sake, lightening their sufferings and strengthening their resolve. When the noble man learned of this strange punishment, he was not terrified, but readily put out his tongue and offered it most eagerly to those who cut it off. [b] After this punishment he was thrown into prison and suffered there for a very long time. At last, when the emperor’s twentieth anniversary was near, and by a long-established custom of kindness freedom was proclaimed everywhere to all who were in chains, he alone had both his feet stretched apart over five holes of the stocks, and as he lay there he was strangled. So he was honored with martyrdom, as he had longed to be. [c] Although he died outside his own country, he was a native of Palestine, and so it is right to count him among the martyrs of Palestine. This is how things went in the first year, when the persecution was aimed only at the leaders of the Church.