The Martyrdom of Justin and His Companions · §5 · Acts of the Martyrs

Rusticus condemns the martyrs; they are beheaded and buried

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Rusticus the prefect pronounces the death sentence on Justin and his companions, and the narrative then records their execution and secret burial by believers.

The prefect Rusticus pronounced sentence: "Those who have refused to sacrifice to the gods and to yield to the emperor's command are to be scourged and led away to pay the capital penalty according to the sequence of the laws."

The holy martyrs glorified God, went out to the customary place, and were beheaded, and so they completed their martyrdom in the confession of the Savior.

Some of the faithful secretly took their bodies and laid them in a suitable place, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ working together with them. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Greek

Ῥουστικὸς ἔπαρχος ἀπεφήνατο λέγων· Οἱ μὴ βουληθέντες θῦσαι τοῖς θεοῖς, καὶ εἶξαι τῷ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος προστάγματι, μαστιγωθέντες ἀπαχθήτωσαν κεφαλικὴν ἀποτιννύντες δίκην κατὰ τὴν τῶν νόμων ἀκολουθίαν. Οἱ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες δοξάζοντες τὸν Θεὸν, ἐξελθόντες ἐπὶ τὸν συνήθη τόπον, ἀπετμήθησαν τὰς κεφαλὰς, καὶ ἐτελείωσαν αὑτῶν τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἐν τῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ὁμολογίᾳ. Τινὲς δὲ τῶν πιστῶν, λαθραίως αὐτῶν τὰ σώματα λαβόντες κατέθεντο ἐν τόπῳ ἐπιτηδείῳ συνεργασάσης αὐτοῖς τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

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.