The Passion of Montanus and Lucius · §1 · Acts of the Martyrs

Why the prisoners write to later brothers

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

The imprisoned confessors open their prison letter to fellow Christians to explain why they are writing.

Dearest brothers, our struggle lies before you, so that you say the servants of God and his Christ have nothing else to do but think of the multitude of the brothers. That love and that duty have driven us, by their own force and reason, to write this letter, so that for the brothers who come after us we may leave a faithful testimony to the greatness of God and a remembrance of our labors and our endurance for the Lord.

After the mob uproar that the governor's fierce face stirred toward killing, and after the bitter persecution of Christians on the following day, crooked violence seized us: Lucius, Montanus, Flavian, Julian, Victoricus, Primolus, Renus, and Donatian, a person preparing for baptism. Baptized in prison, Donatian immediately gave up his spirit, hastening by an unstained path from the baptism of water to the crown of martyrdom. A like completion met Primolus as well, for the testimony he had given a few months earlier had baptized him.

Greek

I. Et nobis est apud vos certamen, dilectissimi fratres, ut nihil aliud agendum dei servis et Christo eius dicatis, quam de multitudine fratrum cogitare; qua vi, qua ratione hic amor, hoc officium ad has nos impulit litteras, ut fratribus post futuris et magnificentiae dei fidele testimonium et labores ac tolerantiam nostri pro domino memoriae relinqueremus. II. Post popularem tumultum quem ferox vultus praesidis in necem concitavit, postque sequentis diei acerrimam persecutionem Christianorum, praevaricata violentia apprehensi sumus Lucius Montanus Flavianus Iulianus Victoricus Primolus Renus et Donatianus catecuminus, qui baptizatus in carcere statim spiritum reddidit, ab aquae baptismo ad martyrii coronam immaculato itinere festinans. nec non et circa Primolum similis consummationis exitus contigit; nam et ipsum ante paucos menses habita confessio baptizavit.

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

Lucius, Montanus, Flavian and their companions write from prison at Carthage of their arrest, hunger and visions. A fellow Christian then tells how they died and what Flavian taught the church on his last day.

Montanus, Lucius and their fellow prisoners wrote this in prison at Carthage about 259, to fellow Christians they call dearest brothers, including brothers still to come. After arrest and imprisonment at Carthage they write to leave testimony of the greatness of God and of their suffering and endurance for the Lord for brothers who will come after.

Its argument is that God protects his servants in prison where threatened burning is extinguished by prayer and darkness becomes light and hunger and thirst are relieved through help brought by fellow Christians, and visions of lamps and a guiding child and milk filled bowls and white garments and promise of a more glorious crown assure them that Christ is with them, so they must hold unity and love and peace and unanimity since division forfeits sonship and inheritance. The reader meets fellow confessors Flavian and Julian and Victoricus and Primolus and Renus and Donatian and Victor the presbyter and Quartillosia and her martyred son and Cyprian who taught the faith and Leucius seen with him and Lucian and Herennian and Januarius who bring food. Their own words are quoted for Renus on lamps and Victor with the shining boy and the Lord in his vision and Quartillosia with her son and the youth with bowls and Montanus on his vision and Lucius at execution, and an editor completes the account in which Montanus preaches against idols and schism and hasty reconciliation of those who gave in under pressure and disrespect for leaders.

Here struggle means the whole trial of arrest and prison and execution and crown means heavenly reward and testimony means open declaration of faith and suffering means suffering and execution for Christ and hardship means affliction of prison want and endurance means patient endurance and unity means united love and peace means reconciliation after quarrel and leaders means appointed church leaders and those who gave in under pressure means Christians who failed under persecution and breakaway Christians means Christians outside the church and person preparing for baptism means one under instruction not yet baptized. The author uses Old Latin wording with LXX style book names and Psalm numbering, so Psalms give the LXX number alongside the modern number and quotations are woven in without modern references including Daniel 3 for the three youths in the fire and Psalm 119:105 LXX 118:105 and Psalm 50:15 LXX 49:15 and Matthew 18:19 and Matthew 5:9 and Romans 8:16 to 17 and Exodus 22:20. Primolus is an arrested Christian whose earlier declaration served as baptism and Renus is a fellow prisoner who dreams of lamps and Herennian is a subdeacon who carries food and Cyprian is the church teacher and Leucius is the figure seen with him.

Printed text used

Translated from Oscar von Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta (Berlin: A. Duncker, 1902) (Latin)

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

Report a mistake