The Martyrdom of Justin and His Companions · §2 · Acts of the Martyrs

Where Christians gather and Justin's confession

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Rusticus the prefect continues interrogating Justin, pressing him on where Christians assemble, and Justin answers that God is not confined to a place, then admits he stays above a certain bath and finally confesses plainly that he is a Christian.

The prefect Rusticus said, "Where do you gather?" Justin said, "Where each person has the choice and the ability. Do you really think we all gather in the same place? Not so, because the God of the Christians is not circumscribed by a place, but, being invisible, fills heaven and earth, and everywhere is worshipped and glorified by the faithful." The prefect Rusticus said, "Tell me where you gather, or in what place you assemble your disciples." Justin said, "I myself stay above a certain bath of Martinus son of Timiotinus, and have done so for all this time—this is my second sojourn in the city of the Romans—and I know no other meeting place than his. And if anyone wished to come to me, I shared with him the words of the truth." Rusticus said, "So then, you are a Christian?" Justin said, "Yes, I am a Christian."

Greek

Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπε· Ποῦ συνέρχεσθε, Ἰουστῖνος εἶπεν· Ἔνθα ἑκάστῳ προαίρεσις καὶ δύναμίς ἐστι. Πάντως γὰρ νομίζεις ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ συνέρχεσθαι ἡμᾶς πάντας; Οὐχ οὕτως δέ· διότι ὁ Θεὸς τῶν Χριστιανῶν τόπῳ οὐ περιγράφεται, ἀλλὰ, ἀόρατος ὢν, τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν πληροῖ, καὶ πανταχοῦ ὑπὸ τῶν πιστῶν προσκυνεῖται καὶ δοξάζεται. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπεν· Εἰπὲ ποῦ συνέρχεσθε, ἢ εἰς ποῖον τόπον ἀθροίζεις τοὺς μαθητάς σου; Ἰουστῖνος εἶπεν· Ἐγὼ ἐπάνω μένω τινὸς Μαρτίνου τοῦ Τιμιοτίνου βαλανείου, καὶ παρὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον· (ἐπεδήμησα δὲ τῇ Ῥωμαίων πόλει τοῦτο δεύτερον) καὶ οὐ γινώσκω ἄλλην τινὰ συνέλευσιν εἰ μὴ τὴν ἐκείνου. Καὶ εἴ τις ἐβούλετο ἀφικνεῖσθαι παρ' ἐμοὶ, ἐκοινώνουν αὐτῷ τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας λόγων. Ῥουστικὸς εἶπεν· Οὐκοῦν λοιπὸν Χριστιανὸς εἶ; Ἰουστῖνος εἶπεν· Ναὶ, Χριστιανός εἰμι.

About this text

How Justin and five companions were questioned by the prefect Rusticus in Rome, condemned, and beheaded for their faith.

The author of this account is unknown. It belongs to the early Christian genre of martyr acts, written to preserve the record of how Justin and five companions were arrested, questioned, and executed in Rome under the prefect Rusticus.

The occasion is a persecution in which Christians were compelled by decree to offer libations to idols. Justin, a Christian teacher and philosopher, is brought with his companions before Rusticus. The prefect demands that they obey the decrees and sacrifice to the gods. Justin explains that he follows the true teaching of the Christians, worshipping the one God who made all creation, and his Child Jesus Christ, whose coming the prophets foretold.

A reader will meet Justin, the principal defendant, and Rusticus, the prefect who interrogates and condemns them. Paeon and Euelpistus say they received the faith from their parents. When threatened with scourging and beheading, they refuse to sacrifice, declaring their hope of salvation and boldness before the judgment seat of Christ. Rusticus condemns them, and they are executed. Believers secretly bury their bodies.

New English from the Greek base text. No published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Assembled reading text (Migne PG 6 print, checked against the witnesses below) (Greek)
Also checked Migne, Patrologia Graeca 6 (1857), cols. 1565-1572, archive.org scan A (machine-read text excerpt) (Greek · witness M1: same print as M2, independent scan and machine-read text)
Also checked Migne, Patrologia Graeca 6 (1857), cols. 1565-1572, archive.org scan B (machine-read text excerpt) (Greek · witness M2: same print as M1, independent scan and machine-read text)
Also checked Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta (Berlin 1902), no. III, pp. 18-21 (machine-read text excerpt) (Greek · witness G: independent print of the same recension (B), with Gebhardt's own conjectures and apparatus)
Also checked Knopf, Ausgewaehlte Maertyrerakten (3rd ed. 1913), no. 4, pp. 16-19, text after Otto CAC III (1879) (machine-read text excerpt) (Greek · witness K: independent print of the same recension (B); machine-read text lost accents and breathings, used for letters only)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.