On the sixteenth day before the Calends of August [July 17, 180], in the
consulship of Praesens and Claudianus (Praesens being consul for the
second time), Speratus, Nartzalus, Cittinus, Donata, Secunda, and Vestia
were brought into the senate house of Carthage.
The Proconsul Saturninus said, “You can win the leniency of our lord the
Emperor if you return to reason.”
Speratus answered, “We have never done wrong. We have not taken part in
any crime at all. We have never cursed. Even if we were ill-treated, we
only gave thanks. Therefore we honor our Emperor.”
The Proconsul Saturninus said, “We too are religious people, and our
religion is simple. We swear by the genius of our lord the Emperor and
offer sacrifices for his well-being. You must do that too.”
Speratus answered, “If you lend me a quiet ear I will tell you the secret
of simplicity.”
Saturninus said, “As soon as you begin to say evil things about our
rites, I will not lend my ear to you. Swear by the genius of our lord the
Caesar!”
Speratus answered, “I do not recognize any empire of this present age. I
serve that God whom no person has seen, or can ever see with these eyes.
I have not stolen. On the contrary, when I buy anything I pay my taxes,
for I know only one Lord, the king of kings, the ruler of all nations.”
The Proconsul Saturninus said to the others, “Give up this persuasion.”
Speratus replied, “It is an evil persuasion to commit murder and bear
false witness.”
The Proconsul Saturninus said, “Give up this madness.”
Cittinus spoke up now, “There is no one whom we fear except the Lord our
God who is in heaven.”
Donata said, “Honor Caesar as Caesar, but fear God.”
Vestia said, “I am a Christian.”
Secunda said, “What I am, I want to remain.”
The Proconsul Saturninus asked Speratus, “Do you remain a Christian?”
Speratus replied, “I am a Christian,” and they all agreed with him.
The Proconsul Saturninus said, “Do you want some time to consider?”
Speratus replied, “In such a just cause there is nothing to consider.”
The Proconsul Saturninus said, “What do you have in your satchel?”
Speratus said, “The letters and writings of Paul, a just man.”
The Proconsul Saturninus said, “You shall have thirty days’ grace to
consider the matter.”
Speratus said again, “I am a Christian,” and all agreed with him.
The Proconsul Saturninus read the sentence from his tablet: “Speratus,
Nartzalus, Cittinus, Donata, Vestia, and Secunda, and the rest who
confessed that they want to live according to the Christian custom shall
be executed by the sword, since they remained obstinate, although the
opportunity was offered them to return to the Roman tradition.”
Speratus said, “We give thanks to God.”
Nartzalus said, “Today we are martyrs in heaven, thanks be to God.”
The Proconsul Saturninus ordered it to be proclaimed by the herald: “I
have commanded that Speratus, Nartzalus, Cittinus, Veturius, Felix,
Aquilinus, Laetantius, Januaria, Generosa, Vestia, Donata, and Secunda be
led forth to execution.”
They all said, “Thanks be to God,” and were immediately executed with the
sword.
Acts of Martyrs, official court minutes from Carthage, July 17, 180.
Werner wrote:
> The servants of Christ who live as aliens at Vienna and Lugdunum
> [Vienne and Lyons] in Gaul, to the brothers in Asia Minor and
> Phrygia…The adversary has fallen upon us with all his might. He has
> given us a foretaste of the ignominy of his future when it breaks in.
>
> One of our brothers was called Vettius Epagathus. He was filled with
> abundant love towards God and his neighbor. He never hesitated to do a
> service to his neighbor. He carried a great zeal for God in his heart.
> He burned with the fervor of the Spirit. He also was received into the
> select circle of the martyrs as a defender and advocate of the
> Christians, he who carried within him the defending advocate, the
> spirit of Zechariah. He was and is a true disciple of Christ in the
> full sense of the word. He followed the Lamb wherever He went.
>
> In the presence of all the people, the governor had given the order
> that all of us with our households should be investigated. Prompted by
> Satan, fearful of the tortures which they saw God’s people suffer, and
> under pressure from the soldiers who talked them directly into it,
> pagan slaves in our service brought forth lies against us. These lies
> were the usual accusations of cannibalism, unnatural sexual unions,
> and similar ghastly things which we should never speak or think about
> or even believe that they have ever happened among human beings. When
> this became known among the pagans, they all flew into a truly bestial
> rage against us.
>
> Through the slave girl, Blandina, Christ revealed that what is
> regarded as mean, insignificant, and unattractive by humans is
> accounted worthy of great glory in the sight of God because of the
> fact that love towards him proves itself with power and does not vaunt
> itself for the sake of making an impression. Her comfort, her relief,
> her refreshment, her pain-killing remedy for everything she suffered
> was the cry, “I am a Christian, and nothing evil happens among us.”
>
> Also Sanctus, a serving brother, steadfastly endured tortures beyond
> all measure and all human strength – all the tortures that human
> beings are able to inflict. Those lawless men hoped that, through the
> persistence and cruelty of their tortures, they could force him to say
> something that would be harmful to the Christians. But he resisted
> with unshakable firmness. He did not even say what his name was, or
> his race or native city, or whether he was a slave or free. To every
> question he gave only one answer, in Latin, “I am a Christian.” This
> was his glory; it was his answer to all and everything instead of
> giving his name, native city, and family. No other sound did the
> pagans hear from his lips. The governor and his torturers became very
> bitter on account of this. When they could think of nothing else they
> pressed red-hot metal plates against the most sensitive parts of his
> body. These burned until they grew cold, but still he stood firm in
> his confession.
>
> Biblis was one of those who had denied Christ. She was the only one to
> come to her senses actually during the agony of torture, awaking out
> of a deep sleep as it were. The tortures of the present age reminded
> her of the punishments of eternity, and she flatly contradicted the
> slanderers.
>
> Even the blessed Pothinus, the overseer of the church at Lugdunum, who
> had reached the great age of more than ninety years, was dragged
> before the tribunal. He was physically so feeble that he was scarcely
> able to breathe, but he was strong with inward joy and full of longing
> for the crown of martyrdom. His body was tired to death because of his
> great age and his physical ailments, but his soul was kept in him so
> powerfully that Christ was to triumph through him. He was led before
> the tribunal by soldiers accompanied by the city authorities. A great
> multitude yelled and shouted in a wild uproar. It happened in just the
> same way as when Christ was condemned. He gave a good witness. When
> the governor asked him, “Who is the god of the Christians?” he
> answered, “If you were worthy you would know.” Thereupon he was
> ill-treated in the most merciless way. Those closest to him pounded
> him and kicked him viciously from all sides, not respecting his old
> age in the slightest. Those further away hurled at him whatever came
> into their hands. Scarcely breathing any more Pothinus was thrown into
> prison, and after two days he gave up his soul.
>
> Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and Attalus were taken to the wild beasts
> in the amphitheater, to give the pagan crowd which was gathered there
> a public spectacle of inhumanity. They ran the gauntlet of whips. They
> were already used to this. They let themselves be dragged around and
> mauled by the wild beasts. Everything the raving, yelling mob wanted,
> now from this side, now from that, they endured. They sat upon the
> iron chair which roasted their bodies so that the fumes rose up. Yet
> they heard nothing from Sanctus beyond the confession of faith he had
> repeated over and over again from the beginning. When they were still
> found alive in spite of the terrible and prolonged torture, they were
> finally killed. Blandina was hung on a post, delivered up to the wild
> beasts for food. Hung up like this in the shape of the Cross, she
> could be seen from afar, and through her ardent prayers she aroused
> increased zeal in those who were fighting, for during this fight they
> saw with their own eyes, right in and through the person of their
> sister, the one who was crucified for them. In this way it was shown
> to all who believe in him that everyone who suffers for the glory of
> Christ is always in fellowship with the living God. As none of the
> wild beasts had yet touched Blandina, she was taken down from the post
> and thrown into prison once more, to be kept ready for a new fight.
>
> Most of those who had denied their faith were received back into the
> bosom of the church. The fire of their lives was rekindled and burned
> brightly. They learned to confess and stood before the tribunal again,
> full of life and vigor, once more to be plagued by the governor. In
> the meantime the command of the Emperor had arrived: those who denied
> their faith should be set free; the others should be executed.
>
> The great festival had just begun. Large numbers of people had flocked
> together from many faraway places. Before the eyes of the crowd the
> governor had all the blessed ones conducted to the tribunal in a
> ceremonial procession. Again he started to examine them. All those who
> clearly possessed Roman citizenship were beheaded. The rest were sent
> to the wild beasts. Christ was glorified magnificently by those who
> had formerly denied him. The pagans could not grasp it. They gave
> witness. Attalus sat in the iron chair. His body burned. The fumes
> rose up. On being asked, “What is God’s name?” he answered, “God does
> not have a name as a man has.”
>
> The glorified Blandina had already learned to know the scourging, the
> wild beasts, and the red-hot griddle. Finally they tied her in a
> fishing net and threw her to a bull. For a long time the animal tossed
> her about, and so she was killed. She did not feel anymore what was
> happening to her because she lived only in the hope and expectation of
> the things that were prepared for her through her communion with
> Christ. Even the pagans had to admit that none of their women had ever
> suffered so many tortures for so long. Yet not even this was enough to
> satisfy their rage and cruelty towards the holy ones.
>
> The bodies of those that had perished in prison they threw to the
> dogs, watching carefully night and day that none of us could be
> buried. The remains of those who had been torn to pieces by the wild
> beasts and those charred by the fire they put on public view just as
> they were. The heads and trunks of the others, carefully guarded by
> soldiers, they also left unburied for many days. Some of them were
> raging and gnashing their teeth, seeking to take even more vengeance
> on them. Others laughed and jeered at them and exalted their own
> idols, to whom they attributed the punishment of the martyrs.
>
> The more reasonable ones, those of whom one could believe that they
> knew pity to a certain extent, slandered them, crying, “Where is your
> god? How were they helped by the faith which they loved more than
> their own lives?” For six days the bodies of the martyrs, mocked in
> every possible way, were exposed to the elements. Finally they were
> burned to ashes by these lawless men and swept into the Rhône, which
> flows nearby. Not a trace of them was to remain on earth. This they
> did thinking that they could defeat God and deprive them of their
> restoration. They said that they should not be allowed to have any
> hope of resurrection, for it was through their faith in this that they
> introduced a strange and new religion. “Now let us see whether they
> will rise again, whether their god can help them, and whether he can
> deliver them out of our hands.”
>
> Letter from Vienne and Lyons (Southern France) to Phrygia:
> Eusebius V.1 ff. In the year 177.
>
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