The Martyrdom of Maximus · §2 · Origen of Alexandria

Beating and rack called anointing, then sentence to stoning

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Maximus has confessed as a Christian before the proconsul Optimus and refused to offer sacrifice, and Optimus now has him beaten and racked.

Then the proconsul ordered him to be beaten with clubs. As he was being beaten, the proconsul said to him, "Offer sacrifice, Maximus, so you may be freed from this torture." Maximus answered, "What is inflicted for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is not torture, but anointing. If I abandon the commands of my Lord, in which I have been instructed from his gospel, true and everlasting torture will await me."

Then the proconsul ordered him to be hung on the rack. While he was being tortured, he said to him, "Come to your senses now, wretch, leave your folly behind and offer sacrifice, so you may gain your soul." Maximus answered, "I will gain my soul if I do not offer sacrifice, but if I offer sacrifice I lose it. Neither clubs nor hooks nor fire cause me any felt pain, for Christ's grace remains in me, and through the prayers of all the saints it will save me forever. Those saints contended in this same struggle, overcame your madness, and left us examples of virtue."

Then the proconsul passed sentence on him, saying, "The man who has refused to assent to the sacred laws by offering sacrifice to the great goddess Diana, divine mercy has ordered to be overwhelmed with stones, to frighten the remaining Christians."

Greek

II. Tunc proconsul iussit eum fustibus caedi. cumque caederetur dicebat ei: Sacrifica, Maxime, ut ab his liber sis tormentis. Maximus respondit: Haec non sunt tormenta, quae pro nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi inferuntur, sed sunt unctiones. si enim recessero a domini mei praeceptis, quibus sum de evangelio eius eruditus, vera et perpetua mihi manebunt tormenta. tunc proconsul iussit eum in equuleo suspendi. cumque torqueretur dicebat ad eum: Iam resipisce, miser, ab insipientia tua et sacrifica, ut animam lucreris. Maximus respondit: Animam meam lucrabor, si non sacrificavero; quod si sacrificavero, perdo eam. mihi enim nec fustes nec ungulae nec ignis sentiendi dant dolorem; quia in me manet gratia Christi, quae me salvum faciet in aeternum omnium sanctorum orationibus, qui in hac colluctatione certantes vestras superaverunt insanias nobisque virtutum exempla reliquerunt. tunc proconsul dedit in eum sententiam dicens: Eum qui sacris legibus assensum noluit accommodare, ut magnae deae Dianae sacrificaret, ad metum reliquorum Christianorum obrui lapidibus praecepit divina clementia.

About this text

No occasion or purpose is stated in the text. It records Decius's decree, Maximus's voluntary appearance, interrogation, torture, sentence and stoning.

This account was written by an anonymous writer in Asia. It is not sent to any named person, and it states no occasion or purpose. It belongs to the time of Emperor Decius and the proconsul Optimus, and it records the decree, the voluntary appearance of Maximus, his interrogation, torture, sentence and stoning.

Decius ordered Christians throughout the world to leave the living and true God, offer sacrifice to demons, or face punishment. Maximus, a freeborn commoner who lives by his own business and calls himself a Christian and servant of Christ, presents himself voluntarily, rejects the order as unjust, refuses to offer sacrifice to any but God, and seeks eternal life in place of miserable temporal life. The reader meets Maximus, Decius behind the decree, and Optimus the proconsul in Asia who interrogates, tortures and condemns him for refusing to offer sacrifice to Diana, then has him led outside the walls and struck with stones until he dies. Most of the text is direct speech in which Maximus answers Optimus, and Maximus argues against the words of Optimus and the order of Decius, all framed by an anonymous narrator who closes with thanks and a doxology to Christ.

In this rendering, offer sacrifice means performing the ordered pagan offering, demons is the Christian word for the pagan gods named in the decree, and torture covers beating and the rack. Anointing is Maximus word for his sufferings, which he says soothe rather than hurt, and he says he is sustained by Christ's grace. The language about divine mercy belongs to the formal sentence spoken by Optimus, not to God, and the king of this age means Decius. No book of the Bible is named, quoted or numbered in the text.

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.