The Martyrdom of Maximus · §3 · Origen of Alexandria

Led out and stoned to death

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

After Optimus condemns him for refusing to offer sacrifice to Diana, the narrator reports how Maximus is seized, led out, and killed.

And so the champion for Christ was seized by the devil's agents, while giving thanks to God and Father through Jesus Christ, his Son, who judged him worthy to overcome the devil by contending. He was led outside the walls and struck with stones, and he gave up his spirit.

The servant of God Maximus suffered in the province of Asia on the second day before the Ides of May, under Emperor Decius and the proconsul Optimus, while our Lord Jesus Christ reigns, to whom is glory forever and ever, amen.

Greek

III. et sic raptus est athleta Christi a ministris diaboli, gratias agens deo et patri per Iesum Christum filium eius, qui eum dignum iudicavit certando diabolum superare; ductusque foras muros lapidibus caesus reddidit spiritum. Passus est autem famulus dei Maximus apud Asiam provinciam, secundo idus Maii, sub Decio imperatore et Optimo proconsule, regnante domino nostro Iesu Christo; cui est gloria in saecula saeculorum, amen.

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.