Acts of Cyprian · §2 · Origen of Alexandria

Refusing to name the priests

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Paternus the governor continues questioning Cyprian at Carthage about the priests and the imperial orders against gatherings and cemeteries.

Paternus the governor said: "They have seen fit to write to me not only about bishops but also about priests, so I want to learn from you who the priests are who live in this city." Cyprian the bishop replied: "Your own laws have wisely and usefully decreed that there are to be no informers, so they cannot be exposed and handed over by me. They will be found in their own cities."

Paternus the governor said: "I am asking my questions here today." Cyprian said: "Since our discipline forbids anyone to volunteer himself, and your own authority also disapproves of that, they cannot present themselves. But if you search them out, they will be found." Paternus the governor said: "They will be found by me." Then he added: "They have also ordered that there be no gatherings in any place and that the cemeteries not be entered, so if anyone fails to keep this most beneficial order, he will be punished with death." Cyprian the bishop replied: "Do what you have been ordered to do."

Greek

Paternus proconsul dixit: Non solum de episcopis , verum etiam de presbyteris mihi scribere dignati sunt. volo ergo scire ex te qui sint presbyteri qui in hac civitate consistunt. Cyprianus episcopus respondit: Legibus vestris bene atque utiliter censuistis delatores non esse. itaque detegi et deferri a me non possunt. in civitatibus autem suis invenientur. Paternus proconsul dixit: Ego hodie in hoc loco exquiro. Cyprianus dixit: Cum disciplina prohibeat ut quis se ultro offerat, et tuae quoque censurae hoc displiceat, nec offerre se ipsi possunt; sed a te exquisiti invenientur. Paternus proconsul dixit: A me invenientur. et adiecit: Praeceperunt etiam ne in aliquibus locis conciliabula fiant nec coemeteria ingrediantur. si quis itaque hoc tam salubre praeceptum non observaverit, capite plectetur. Cyprianus episcopus respondit: Fac quod tibi praeceptum est.

About this text

The work preserves a sequential record of Bishop Cyprian's interrogations, condemnation, and execution at Carthage for communal memory.

This work is anonymous and names no addressee. It follows in sequence the interrogations, condemnation and execution of Cyprian at Carthage for communal memory, and it states its purpose only in its closing doxology.

Before Paternus the governor, Cyprian confesses that he is a Christian and bishop who worships only the one true creator God and refuses the worship rites, and he refuses to name the priests. After exile at Curubis he is brought before Galerius Maximus the next governor, where he again admits his leadership and refuses the rites ordered by the emperors Valerian and Gallienus. Galerius Maximus consults his council and condemns him as organizer of an unlawful association hostile to Roman gods and laws. He is executed by the sword, thanks God, and is carried away by night by fellow Christians for burial on the grounds of Macrobius Candidianus, with Julian the priest and Julian the subdeacon helping to blindfold him. The speeches of Paternus, Cyprian, Galerius Maximus and the crowd of fellow Christians are quoted in direct exchange, with Cyprian answering the two governors.

Here bishop means leader of the local Christians, priests means its subordinate clergy, governor means the Roman governor judging the case, worship rites means the acts of Roman worship demanded, gatherings means forbidden Christian gatherings, cemeteries means places for burial that Christians were forbidden to enter, and fellow Christians means those accompanying and burying Cyprian. No book of the Bible is formally quoted and no titles occur. The only biblical language is Cyprian's creator formula of the God who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, which recalls Exodus, Acts and Revelation.

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.