The Martyrdom of Justin and His Companions · §3 · Acts of the Martyrs

Each companion confesses Christ before the prefect

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The prefect Rusticus turns from Justin to each of his companions in turn, asking whether they too are Christians and where their parents are.

The prefect Rusticus said to Chariton, "Tell me further, Chariton: are you also a Christian?" Chariton said, "I am a Christian by God's command." The prefect Rusticus said to Charito, "What do you say, Charito?" Charito said, "I am a Christian by the gift of God." Rusticus said to Euelpistus, "And who are you?" Euelpistus, a slave of Caesar, answered, "I too am a Christian, having been set free by Christ, and I share in the same hope by the grace of Christ." The prefect Rusticus said to Hierax, "Are you also a Christian?" Hierax said, "Yes, I am a Christian, for I worship and adore the same God." The prefect Rusticus said, "Did Justin make you Christians?" Hierax said, "I was a Christian, and I will be." Paeon, standing by, said, "I too am a Christian." The prefect Rusticus said, "Who taught you?" Paeon said, "We received this good confession from our parents." Euelpistus said, "I listened gladly to Justin's words, but I too received being a Christian from my parents." The prefect Rusticus said, "Where are your parents?" Euelpistus said, "In Cappadocia." Rusticus said to Hierax, "Where are your parents?" He answered, "Our true father is Christ, and our mother is faith in him. My earthly parents have died. As for me, I was torn away from Iconium in Phrygia and came here." The prefect Rusticus said to Liberianus, "What do you say? Are you a Christian? Do you not worship?" Liberianus said, "I too am a Christian, for I worship and adore the only true God."

Greek

Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος τῷ Χαρίτωνι εἶπεν· Ἔτι εἰπὲ, Χαρίτων, καὶ σὺ Χριστιανὸς εἶ; Χαρίτων εἶπε· Χριστιανός εἰμι Θεοῦ κελεύσει. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος πρὸς τὴν Χαριτὼ εἶπε· Σὺ τί λέγεις, Χαριτώ; Χαριτὼ εἶπε· Χριστιανός εἰμι τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεᾷ. Ῥουστικὸς εἶπε τῷ Εὐελπίστῳ· Σὺ δὲ τίς εἶ; Εὐέλπιστος, δοῦλος Καίσαρος, ἀπεκρίνατο· Κἀγὼ Χριστιανός εἰμι ἐλευθερωθεὶς ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἐλπίδος μετέχω χάριτι Χριστοῦ. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος τῷ Ἱέρακι εἶπε· Καὶ σὺ Χριστιανὸς εἶ; Ἱέραξ εἶπεν· Ναὶ, Χριστιανός εἰμι, τὸν γὰρ αὐτὸν Θεὸν σέβομαι καὶ προσκυνῶ. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπεν· Ἰουστῖνος ὑμᾶς ἐποίησε Χριστιανούς; Ἱέραξ εἶπεν· Ἤμην Χριστιανὸς, καὶ ἔσομαι. Παίων δὲ ἑστὼς εἶπε· Κἀγὼ Χριστιανός εἰμι. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπε· Τίς ὁ διδάξας σε; Παίων εἶπεν· Ἀπὸ τῶν γονέων παρειλήφαμεν τὴν καλὴν ταύτην ὁμολογίαν. Εὐέλπιστος εἶπεν· Ἰουστίνου μὲν ἡδέως ἤκουον τῶν λόγων. Παρὰ τῶν γονέων δὲ κἀγὼ παρείληφα Χριστιανὸς εἶναι. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπε· Ποῦ εἰσιν οἱ γονεῖς σου; Εὐέλπιστος εἶπεν· Ἐν τῇ Καππαδοκίᾳ. Ῥουστικὸς τῷ Ἱέρακι λέγει· Οἱ σοὶ γονεῖς ποῦ εἰσίν; ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο λέγων· Ὁ ἀληθινὸς ἡμῶν πατήρ ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς, καὶ μήτηρ ἡ εἰς αὐτὸν πίστις· οἱ δὲ ἐπίγειοί μου γονεῖς ἐτελεύτησαν. Καὶ ἐγὼ, ἀπὸ Ἰκονίου τῆς Φρυγίας ἀποσπασθεὶς, ἐνθάδε ἐλήλυθα. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπε Λιβεριανῷ· Τί καὶ σὺ λέγεις, Χριστιανὸς εἶ; οὐδὲ σὺ εὐσεβεῖς; Λιβεριανὸς εἶπε· Κἀγὼ Χριστιανός εἰμι· εὐσεβῶ γὰρ καὶ προσκυνῶ τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεόν.

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.