The Martyrdom of Justin and His Companions · §4 · Acts of the Martyrs

The hope of heaven and the command to sacrifice

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The prefect Rusticus has finished questioning the companions individually and now turns back to Justin, pressing him on whether he really expects to go to heaven after execution, then orders the whole group to sacrifice together.

The prefect said to Justin, "Hear me, you who are called learned and think you know true arguments: if you are scourged and beheaded, are you persuaded that you are about to go up into heaven?" Justin said, "I hope to have his teachings there, if I endure these things. For I know that the divine gift remains with all who have lived this way until the completion of the whole world." The prefect Rusticus said, "So you suppose that you will go up into the heavens and receive some rewards?" Justin said, "I do not suppose it; I know it and have been fully assured." The prefect Rusticus said, "Let us now come to the matter at hand, which is pressing. Come together with one accord and sacrifice to the gods." Justin said, "No one of sound mind falls from worship into impiety." The prefect Rusticus said, "If you do not obey, you will be punished without mercy." Justin said, "It is our prayer that, having been punished for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we may be saved; for this will be our salvation and boldness before the more fearful and universal tribunal of our Master and Savior." In the same way the remaining martyrs said, "Do what you wish. We are Christians, and we do not sacrifice to idols."

Greek

Ὁ ἔπαρχος λέγει πρὸς Ἰουστῖνον· Ἄκουε ὁ λεγόμενος λόγιος καὶ νομίζων ἀληθινοὺς εἰδέναι λόγους· ἐὰν μαστιγωθεὶς ἀποκεφαλισθῇς, πέπεισαι ὅτι μέλλεις ἀναβαίνειν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν; Ἰουστῖνος εἶπεν· Ἐλπίζω ἕξειν αὐτοῦ τὰ δόγματα, ἐὰν ὑπομείνω ταῦτα. Οἶδα γὰρ πᾶσι τοῖς οὕτω βιώσασι παραμένειν τὸ θεῖον χάρισμα μέχρι τῆς ἐκπληρώσεως τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπε· Σὺ οὖν ὑπονοεῖς ὅτι ἀναβήσῃ εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἀμοιβάς τινας ἀποληψόμενος; Ἰουστῖνος εἶπεν· Οὐχ ὑπονοῶ, ἀλλ' ἐπίσταμαι καὶ πεπληροφόρημαι. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπεν· Τὸ λοιπὸν ἔλθωμεν εἰς τὸ προκείμενον καὶ κατεπεῖγον πρᾶγμα. Συνελθόντες οὖν ὁμαθυμαδὸν θύσατε τοῖς θεοῖς. Ἰουστῖνος εἶπεν· Οὐδεὶς εὐφρονῶν ἀπὸ εὐσεβείας ἀσεβείᾳ εἰσπίπτει. Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπεν· Εἰ μὴ πείθεσθε, τιμωρηθήσεσθε ἀνηλεῶς. Ἰουστῖνος εἶπε· Δι' εὐχῆς ἔχομεν διὰ τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τιμωρηθέντες σωθῆναι· ὅτι τοῦτο ἡμῖν σωτηρία καὶ παῤῥησία γενήσεται ἐπὶ τοῦ φοβερωτέρου καὶ παγκοσμίου βήματος τοῦ Δεσπότου ἡμῶν καὶ Σωτῆρος. Ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ μάρτυρες εἶπον· Ποίει ὃ θέλεις· ἡμεῖς γὰρ Χριστιανοί ἐσμεν, καὶ εἰδώλοις οὐ θύομεν.

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.