On the Frequency of Voluntary Martyrdom in the Patristic Era

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The Journal of Theological Studies, NS, Vol. 70, Pt 2, October 2019

ON THE FREQUENCY OF VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM IN THE PATRISTIC ERA

ALAN VINCELETTE Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021

St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo, CA [email protected]

Abstract Contemporary scholarship on early Christian martyrdom has tended to ac- cept the position of G. E. M. de Ste. Croix that voluntary martyrdom, or handing oneself over to the authorities prior to being sought out or arrested, was quite common. This view falls apart, however, if we avoid an overly broad definition of voluntary martyrdom, a problem common to Ste. Croix and contemporaries such as Arthur Droge, Paul Middleton, and Candida Moss, who count various political protestors, public edifiers, and comforters and aiders as voluntary martyrs. In fact, if we carefully examine the accounts of martyrdom that took place in the first four centuries, voluntary martyrdom, though not unknown, makes up a small percentage of the whole, around 12 per cent instead of the 50 per cent described by Ste. Croix and others.

VOLUNTARY martyrdom refers to acts wherein martyrs aid and abet their own execution by willingly turning themselves in to authorities and confessing their faith. Recent scholarship on early Christian martyrdom has brought out just how common and accepted voluntary martyrdom was in the early church. Through the work of scholars such as G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, Arthur Droge, Paul Middleton, and Candida Moss, we now see that far from being restricted to heretical sects such as the Montanists and Donatists, voluntary martyrdom was prevalent in ‘orthodox’ Christian circles and indeed much celebrated.1

1 Even prior to Ste. Croix scholars had noted the occurrence of voluntary martyrdom among orthodox Christians. See, for instance, Maurice Hassatt, ‘Martyr’, in Charles Herbermann (ed.), The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 9 (New York: Robert Appleton, 1910), p. 737. Certainly this viewpoint goes back at least to Edward Gibbon, who observed how the Christians ‘sometimes supplied by their voluntary declaration the want of an accuser’, and ‘rushing in crowds round the tribunal of the magistrates, called upon them to pronounce and to inﬂict the sentence of the law’. See Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 1 (London: W. W. Gibbings, 1890), p. 406. See also

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The foundational work here was done by G. E. M de Ste. Croix, who argued that not only was voluntary martyrdom common among early orthodox Christians but that it was a key factor in why they were persecuted by the Romans.2 Ste. Croix took issue with scholars such as Henry Chadwick and Edmund Le Blant, who claimed that, apart from members of heretical sects, Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 the early Christians did not accord voluntary martyrs the status of saints, and in fact their acts were frowned upon.3 Ste. Croix wrote: Contrary to what is usually said, voluntary martyrdom was by no means confined mainly to heretical or schismatic sects such as the Montanists and Donatists, but was a good deal more common among the orthodox than is generally admitted ...Wedohear of an astonishingly large number of volunteers, most of whom, whatever the bishops might say, were given full honour as martyrs, the general body of the faithful apparently regarding them with great respect.4 For supporting evidence, Ste. Croix undertook a comprehensive study of the martyrdoms described in Eusebius’s Martyres Palestinae (c.315) and concluded that approximately twice as many or 66 per cent were voluntary martyrs or had attracted the attention of authorities by the boldness of their actions, as had been sought out by authorities.5 Prior to this Ste. Croix had pp. 404–7, 429 where Gibbon gives some of the same examples later found in Ste. Croix. 2 G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, ‘Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted?’, Past and Present 26 (1963), pp. 6–38, reprinted in G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 105–52. See also his even earlier ‘Aspects of the “Great” Persecution’, Harvard Theological Review 47 (1954), pp. 75–113, also reprinted in Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 35–78. 3 Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, p. 156. Ste. Croix has in mind the views expressed in Henry Chadwick’s translation of Origen, Contra Celsum (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953), p. 501, n. 3, and in Edmond Le Blant, ‘Polyeucte et le zele temeraire’, Memoires de l’Institut nationale de France, Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 28 (1876), pp. 335–52. 4 Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, p. 130. See also pp. 155–6, 198–200. 5 Ibid., pp. 65–6. Ste. Croix distinguishes here between those who actively brought arrest and death upon themselves (or what he will later call voluntary martyrdom proper) and those who, without going so far as to demand martyrdom, attracted undue attention to themselves (or what he will later call quasi-voluntary martyrdom). The former group constituted 28% (13/47) and the latter 38% (18/47) of the total number of demarcated martyrdoms in Eusebius’s Martyres Palestinae according to Ste. Croix. In addition, Ste. Croix notes the existence of 44 other martyrs for whom there is not enough 654 ALAN VINCELETTE undertaken a broader study on voluntary martyrdom in the early church, wherein he identified twenty-eight additional ‘voluntary’ martyrs or groups of martyrs described in various Acta martyrum or other patristic writings, but this work was not published in his lifetime, even if some of its material made its way into his 1954 and 1963 essays.6 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Contemporary scholarship has tended to follow Ste. Croix on this point. Moss, for instance, argues that second-century accounts treat voluntary martyrdom no differently from non-voluntary martyrdom, pointing out that ‘There are many historical moments in which “eager martyrs” have been praised and valorized—not only because the actions of one’s own martyrs are always good—but because volunteering has sometimes been idealized.’7 Droge, even more radically, argues that for the early Christians ‘life was at best unimportant and at worst evil’ and death ‘a release, anxiously awaited and sometimes eagerly sought out’.8 On account of this, claims Droge, ‘From the second century on, voluntary martyrdom was practiced and idealized by both “orthodox” and “heretic” alike, in the East as well as in the West’, and so, as opposed to waiting to be sought out, ‘the majority of Christian martyrs chose death by the second and third means [of deliberately volunteering or actually taking their own lives]’.9 Finally, Middleton adds that the earliest? Christian martyrdom accounts celebrated voluntary martyrdom as a ‘valid mainstream Christian practice, which faced only isolated challenge in the first three centuries’.10 information to decide if they were voluntary martyrs or not. See also Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 130–2, 176–9. 6 ‘Voluntary Martyrdom in the Early Church’, which was first published in Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 153–200, esp. pp. 165–83. 7 Candida Moss, ‘The Discourse of Voluntary Martyrdom: Ancient and Modern’, Church History 81 (2012), pp. 531–51, at 547–8. This essay is an ex- pansion of the account given in Candida Moss, Ancient Christian Martyrdom: Diverse Practices, Theologies, and Traditions (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), pp. 145–58. 8 Arthur Droge, ‘The Crown of Immortality: Toward a Redescription of Christian Martyrdom’, in John Collins and Michael Fishbane (eds.), Death, Ecstasy, and Other Worldly Journeys (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1995), pp. 155–70, at 158. This essay has been partially reprinted in Arthur Droge and James Tabor, A Noble Death: Suicide and Martyrdom among Christians and Jews in Antiquity (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1992), pp. 129–66. 9 Droge, ‘The Crown of Immortality’, pp. 152 and 156. Droge, however, seems to consider anyone who is arrested and sentenced to death but goes to death willingly or eagerly as a voluntary martyr. 10 Paul Middleton, ‘Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom: A Statement for the Defence’, JTS, NS 64 (2013), pp. 556–73, at 556. This essay has been reprinted in part in Paul Middleton, ‘Radical Martyrdom in Early VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 655

P. Lorraine Buck has done a good job responding to Ste. Croix in regard to the evidence culled from Eusebius’s Martyres Palestinae and presented in his 1954 and 1963 essays, as well as to the work of Droge.11 The present essay, by contrast and comple- ment, examines the evidence for voluntary martyrdom presented in Ste. Croix’s posthumous article ‘Voluntary Martyrdom in the Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Early Church’ as well as in the works of Middleton and Moss. It concludes that due to an overly broad deﬁnition of voluntary martyrdom, as well as some oversights in handling the martyrdom lit- erature, voluntary martyrdom was not very common among early ‘orthodox’ Christians, constituting only around 12 per cent of the martyrdoms. In his posthumous article, Ste. Croix collects an impressive array of Christians who undertook ‘voluntary martyrdoms’, con- taining no fewer than 40 names, not even including the 31 Palestine martyrs.12 Excluding the Decian and post-Decian martyrs found in Eusebius (who will be dealt with later), he lists the following as voluntary martyrs or near-martyrs (i.e. confessors who were not in the end put to death) in chronological order (the numbering is Ste. Croix’s): 1. Lucius and his companion (c.150); 2. Quintus and his companions (c.160); 3. Paeon (165); 4. Agathonice (c.165); 5. Vettius Epagethus and Alexander (177); 6. The Christian crowd who approached Arrius

Christianity’, Radical Martyrdom and Cosmic Conflict in Early Christianity (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2006), pp. 16–39. Other works emphasizing the common acceptance of voluntary martyrdom among early Christians include Glen Bowersock, Martyrdom and Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); L. Arik Greenberg, ‘My Share of God’s Reward’: Exploring the Roles and Formulations of the Afterlife in Early Christian Martyrdom (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2009); Joyce Salisbury, The Blood of Martyrs: Unintended Consequences of Ancient Violence (London: Routledge, 2004); Jean- Louis Voisin, ‘Prosopographie des morts volontaires chretiens (en particulier chez Eusebe de Cesaree)’, in Marie-Françoise Baslez and Françoise Prevot (eds.), Prosopographie et histoire religieuse: Actes du colloque tenu en l’Universite Paris XII-Val de Marne les 27 & 28 octobre 2000 (Paris: De Boccard, 2005), pp. 351–62; and Frederick Weidmann, ‘Rushing Judgment? Willfulness and Martyrdom in Early Christianity’, Union Seminary Quarterly Review 53 (1999), pp. 61–9. 11 P. Lorraine Buck, ‘Voluntary Martyrdom Revisited’, JTS, NS 63 (2012), pp. 125–35. 12 Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 165–83. Similar lists of voluntary martyrs occur in Middleton, ‘Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom’, pp. 560–71 and Moss, ‘The Discourse of Voluntary Martyrdom’, pp. 544–6. 656 ALAN VINCELETTE Antoninus in Tertullian’s Ad Scapulam (c.185); 7. Callistus (c.190);13 8. Origen (c.202);14 9. Saturus (203); 11. Polyeuctes (250); 14. The followers of Cyprian in the Acta Cypriani (258); 15. A Christian bystander before Aemilianus in the Passio Mariani et Iacobi (258); 18. African Christians presenting themselves to authorities with Scriptures in Mensurius’s Letter to Secundus (c.303); 19. Eulalia (c.304); 20. Faustus, Januarius, and Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Martialis (c.304); 21. Euplus (304); 22. Gordius (304); 23. Egyptians referenced in the Canonical Epistle of Peter of Alexandria (306); 24. Philoromus (306); 27. Macedonius, Theodulus, Tatian, Mark, and Basil of Ancyra, and others (c.362); 28. Christian soldiers banished by Julian and praised in an oration of Gregory Nazianzus (c.362); 29. Juventius, Maximus, Maris, and Antiochians (c.362). He also lists the following as quasi-voluntary martyrs:15 10. Potamiaena (Type III), Basilides (Type I), and the African soldier honoured by Tertullian (Type I) (c.205); 16.

13 Callistus should not really be on this list as Hippolytus accuses him of attempting to commit suicide by first jumping off a boat and then creating a disturbance in the Jewish Synagogue, as he saw death as preferable to impris- onment and punishment on account of his monetary debt (Refutatio omnium haeresium 9.7). I am not aware of any early Christian who would have praised such an act. Moreover, as Ste. Croix also admits, this account was written more than 30 years after these events and is not without bias against Callistus. Hence it may well be, as other scholars have surmised, that Callistus was not seeking death on these occasions but rather to escape capture and to collect money owed to him (see Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 167–8). On the nearly universal condemnation of suicide among the early Church Fathers see Darrel Amundsen, ‘Suicide and Early Christianity’, Medicine, Society, and Faith in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), pp. 70–126, and the writings of Justin Martyr, Apologia 2.4; Lactantius, Institutiones divinae 3.18 and 6.17; Epitome divinarum institutionum 39; Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica (¼ HE) 5.16.13, and Augustine, Civitatis Dei 1.16–28). Indeed the second canon of the Council of Carthage (348) prohibited those who foolishly jumped off cliffs (insania praecipitatos) from being considered martyrs (CCSL, vol. 149, p. 4, n. 2). And if certain Christians such as Jerome (Commentarius in Ionam prophetam 1.12), Ambrose (De virginibus 3.7.32–39; Epistle 37.38), or John Chrysostom (Homilia in Bernicem et Prosdocem; Homilia in Domninam; Homilia in Pelagiam) might approve of religious suicide committed to preserve one’s chastity by avoiding rape or being taken to a brothel, it is a quite different matter to commit suicide to avoid the consequences of failing to pay off one’s debts. On such religious suicides see Droge and Tabor, A Noble Death and Eusebius, HE 8.12.2–4 and 8.14.16–17. 14 Nor should Origen really be included on this list. It is true that out of youthful enthusiasm he wished to join his father in martyrdom and had to be prevented from doing so by his mother, who had hidden his clothes (Eusebius, HE 6.2.3–5). Yet as Ste. Croix himself notes (Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 168–9), Origen later on wrote against committing acts of voluntary martyrdom. Finally, items 18 and 23 are merely inferences that there must have been voluntary martyrdoms occurring that inspired these bishops to condemn such acts (ibid., pp. 174–5). 15 For Ste Croix’s typology of quasi-volunteers see below, at n. 21. VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 657 Christian soldiers Maximilian (295), Marcellus (298), Cassian (298), Typasius, and Fabius (c.299), of Type I. While at first glance this seems an impressive list, and suggestive of the great extent of voluntary martyrdom in the early church, if we are careful how we define voluntary martyrdom and examine Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 these accounts more closely things appear in a different light. Certainly Ste. Croix and others have done a service in calling attention to the fact that ‘orthodox’ Christians were just as apt to be voluntary martyrs as others were. For ‘the deeds of very many were evidently remembered with enthusiasm by the faithful and they are certainly recorded without disapproval in the sources, which virtually never make an adverse comment upon any par- ticular volunteer who remained steadfast to the end’.16 Yet due to the way Ste. Croix and others define ‘voluntary martyrdom’, they exaggerate the extent of voluntary martyrdom in the early church. Ste. Croix initially broadly defines a ‘voluntary martyr’ as someone who ‘deliberately and unnecessarily provoked persecution and thus sought a death which he might have avoided without any sacrifice of Christian principle’.17 Of course the key questions here are what ‘provoking persecution’ and ‘sacrifice of Christian principle’ mean. Ste. Croix spells out these things in a careful delineation found in his posthumous essay. He writes: In my class of voluntary martyrs, as I have defined them, I include only those who (a) explicitly demanded the privilege of martyrdom; or (b) came forward of their own accord in times of persecution and made a public confession of Christianity which was bound to lead to instant execution; or (c) by some deliberate act—destroying images, for example, or assaulting a provincial governor while he was sacrificing—clearly invited arrest and execution.18 Now it is certainly odd to find subcategory (c)—that of deliberately engaging in destructive or violent illegal acts—being placed in the same category as those who came forward to demand martyrdom or to pronounce themselves Christian.19 Moreover, if we

16 Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 155–6. 17 Ibid., p. 153. Moss rightly points out that Ste. Croix’s classification is heavily dependent upon his personal criteria for what constitutes reasonable behaviour (‘The Discourse of Voluntary Martyrdom’, p. 537). 18 Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, p. 153. 19 Middleton, following Droge, even labels as voluntary martyrs Christians who sped up their impending death, such as by rushing into the flames (Eusebius, HE 6.41.7, 8.6.6) or drowning themselves (Eusebius, HE 8.12.3–4) (Middleton, ‘Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom’, p. 560, n. 17); see also Martyrium Polycarpi 3.1 (Germanus drags a beast on top of himself), 8.3; 658 ALAN VINCELETTE carefully examine the accounts of those voluntary martyrs Ste. Croix includes in subcategory (c) we find they encompass a variety of different acts with a variety of different motivations. In some of these cases Christians ‘invited’ or ‘provoked’ their arrest by speaking out against what they held was an injustice or by engaging in acts of political protest. Such acts, in fact, could argu- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 ably be demanded by their Christian principles. In other cases Christians provoked their arrest by angrily and arguably foolishly interrupting the religious rites of pagan officials. Finally, some Christians in these accounts brought martyrdom upon themselves merely by seeking to encourage fellow Christians not to apostasize or to bring them strength or comfort in their time of need. It is hard to see why those who protested the unjust sentencing of Christians or attempted to edify and support them are to be placed in the same category as those who voluntarily declared themselves Christians or requested to be martyred prior to being arrested. The latter seem motivated by an overly eager desire for martyrdom or thirst for death, the former do not. In fact in our own day we celebrate the actions of such political protestors as Rosa Parks, the Selma Bridge marchers, the Irish Bloody Sunday protestors, the Tiananmen Square students, and Rachel Corrie even if they could have invited or did invite punishment, ill- treatment, or death. Ste. Croix’s addition of this third grouping (subcategory (c)) to the category of voluntary martyr hence prob- lematically multiplies the number of voluntary martyrs in the early church. A true voluntary martyr would only be a member of the first two subsets, i.e. one who prior to being arrested (or even sought out) turned himself (or herself) in to the authorities and either demanded martyrdom or publicly identified himself as a Christian, thereby bringing about his martyrdom. This matches Moss’s more restrictive and thus more accurate definition of voluntary martyrdom as ‘the bringing about of martyrdom either by presenting oneself to authorities or by the unsolicited disclosure of one’s Christian identity’.20 Ste. Croix also designates a category of martyrdom called ‘quasi-voluntary’ which includes: I. those in whom we cannot demonstrate a conscious desire for martyrdom for its own sake, but who were rigorists of one kind or another, going beyond the general practice of the Church in their opposition to some

Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis 21.9. But this again seems an overly broad definition as such martyrs were already under arrest or sentenced to death (see Buck, ‘Voluntary Martyrdom Revisited’, pp. 131–3). 20 Moss, ‘The Discourse of Voluntary Martyrdom’, p. 532. VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 659 aspect of pagan society—for example, Christian pacifists who refused military service; II. those who without, as far as we know, actually demanding or inviting martyrdom, deliberately and unnecessarily attracted attention to themselves, for example by ministering openly to arrested confessors, and hence brought about their own arrest; III. martyrs who are not recorded as having been directly responsible for their Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 own arrest, but who after being arrested behaved with deliberate contu- macy at their trial.21 Again it is hard to see how the first subcategory of rigorists belongs with the latter two. The second subcategory of ministering to arrested confessors, for instance, seems quite praiseworthy even with the foreknowledge that one might be harmed or killed in so doing, whereas behaving contumaciously at trial could certainly be ill-considered or unworthy of oneself, and rigorism of one kind or another can be ill-fitting.22 Buck is right to specify that some of the so-called quasi-voluntary martyrs were put to death merely for visiting or bringing food to fellow Christians in prison, that is for doing nothing more than was expected of them as Christians . . . It is thus misleading to label these martyrs as in any sense volunteers ...Infact, the quasi-volunteer, in many instances, was less a subcategory of the voluntary martyr than a more remarkable example of the true martyr, since he or she refused to be diverted from Christian duty by the risk of arrest.23 It is also important to point out that those who openly ministered to arrested confessors were not equally likely to attract attention or bring about their arrest. Several martyrdom accounts suggest that guards allowed or even welcomed fellow Christians showing up at the jail cell with food and supplies for the imprisoned confessors as they could then take in various forms of bribes or otherwise share in the goods.24 So again the addition of subcategory II to the quasi-

21 Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, p. 154. 22 A famous case here is that of the Dominican father Joannes van Hoornaer, who went to the prison of Gorkum to minister and bring sacraments to the Franciscans and diocesan clergy incarcerated by the Dutch Calvinists. He was subsequently arrested and executed along with the others. See Petrus Albers, ‘The Martyrs of Gorkum’, in Charles Herbermann (ed.), The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (New York: Robert Appleton, 1909), pp. 651–2 for references. 23 Buck, ‘Voluntary Martyrdom Revisited’, p. 128. 24 The Martyrium Pionii 11.3–7 describes how the prison guards became angry because Pionius and his group were not accepting the items brought to them by their visitors as they were wont to benefit by whatever came in for the prisoners. See Herbert Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs 660 ALAN VINCELETTE voluntary martyr is too broad and unduly magnifies the amount of ‘voluntary’ martyrdom in the early church. Now if we restrict the definition of voluntary martyrdom to subcategories (a) and (b)—i.e. those who, without being sought out, declared themselves Christians before a magistrate or pro- actively demanded martyrdom—and re-examine the list of Ste. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Croix, we do find a few cases of voluntary martyrdoms proper. The Martyrium Polycarpi (c.200) highlights how the Phrygian Quintus ‘had given himself up and had forced some others to give themselves up voluntarily’.25 In the Acta Carpi, Papyli, et Agathonicae (c.250), the Aeolian woman Agathonice leapt out of the crowd of spectators and threw herself joyfully upon a burning stake.26 In the Acta Eupli (c.304), the Sicilian Euplus, who is the

(Oxford Early Christian Texts; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), pp. 150–1. See also the references to welcome visits to the prisoners or bribery of the prison guards in Lucian, De morte Peregrini 12–13; Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis, 3.7, 6.7, 9.1, 16.2–4; Passio Montanii et Lucii 4.7; Cyprian, Epistles 4.2 and 10.1. 25 Martyrium Polycarpi 4. Eusebius, in his Historia Ecclesiastica, which cop- ies a version of the Martyrium Polycarpi, notes how Quintus, too hastily and without proper discretion, rushed forward to the tribunal and so rashly and recklessly exposed himself to danger (4.15.8). It should be noticed, however, that a main purpose of the Martyrium Polycarpi is to contrast the behaviour of Quintus, who was perhaps a Montanist, with that of Polycarp, who acted ‘in accordance with the Gospel’ (1.1). For, unlike Quintus, Polycarp ‘waited that he might be delivered up’ (1.2), leaving Smyrna ‘secretly for a small estate on the outskirts’ (5.1), and with pursuers on his tail ‘moved to a different estate’ (6.1), before finally choosing not to flee anymore and let the authorities capture him (7.1). Cf. Eusebius, HE 4.15.9–12, which gives a similar account. We are even told at the end of the Quintus episode by the Church of Smyrna that ‘we do not approve of those who come forward of themselves: this is not the teaching of the Gospel’ (Martyrium Polycarpi 4), which is an obvious reference to Matt. 10:23, where Jesus tells his disciples that when they are persecuted in one place to flee to another. And whether or not the Quintus episode is a later addition to the text (see below, n. 71), or a redactor added in the Gospel paral- lels, most likely the several references to Polycarp fleeing persecution are genuine, as they would have formed the basis for the contrast with Quintus and the similarly with Christ. Probably authentic likewise is the earlier remark of the Church of Smyrna praising Polycarp for waiting to be delivered up, as ‘it is a mark of true and solid love to desire not only one’s own salvation but also that of all the brothers’ (1.2). See Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs,pp. 4–7, from which the translations are taken. 26 Acta Carpi, Papyli, et Agathonicae 42–4 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 26–9). It is of great interest to note that the Latin recension (c.290) probably intentionally removes the voluntary nature of Agathonice’s martyrdom by having her arrested and brought before the proconsul along with the other martyrs, sentenced to death, and strung up on the stake by others (1, 6.1–5; Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 28– 9, 34–7). Even the Greek recension does not make the martyrdom wholly voluntary as Agathonice is acting under the impulse of a vision of the glory of VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 661 prototype of the voluntary martyr, shouts out in front of the council chamber ‘I want to die, I am a Christian’, having brought with him the Gospel writings as well.27 Finally, the deserter Gordius ran into the middle of the stadium of Caesarea, where all of the town was gathered for a chariot race, and shouted out a phrase from the Book of Isaiah: ‘I was found by those not looking Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 for me; I appeared plainly to those not enquiring about me’ (Isa. 65:1).28 Yet all told, such voluntary martyrs represent only 4 per cent (4/98) of the named martyrs that occur in the authentic Acta Martyrum together with the major homilies on the martyrs of the Eastern Fathers and Prudentius’s Liber Peristephanon.29 Hence

God and a realization that this was a call from heaven (42), as Buck has rightly pointed out (‘Voluntary Martyrdom Revisited’, pp. 132–3). The Greek recension also has the witnesses of Agathonice’s and the others’ executions proclaim that it was a terrible sentence and these are unjust decrees, suggesting to some that Agathonice was sentenced prior to her jumping onto the stake and that there may be a lacuna in the Greek text (45). Musurillo notes, however, that the exclamation of the crowd may simply be referring to the whole affair and sentencing of Carpus and Papylus and not reflective of a lacuna (The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, p. xvi) and he includes Agathonice among the voluntary martyrs (p. xlv). 27 Acta Eupli 1.1 of the Greek recension (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 310–11). Musurillo calls the actions of Euplus ‘rash’ and considers him a voluntary martyr who all but forced the Roman official to execute him (p. xiv). 28 Basil of Caesarea, Homily XVIII, In Gordium Martyrem 3. See Johan Leemans, Wendy Mayer, Pauline Allen, and Boudewijn Dehandschutter (eds.), ‘Let Us Die that We May Live’: Greek Homilies on Christian Martyrs from Asia Minor, Palestine, and Syria, c. AD 350–AD 450 (London: Routledge, 2003), p. 62. Basil’s account clearly presents Gordius’s behaviour as an act of voluntary martyrdom. Basil notes that Gordius ‘did not consider how many hostile hands would betray him’ and that he showed by his words that he was ‘not driven to danger out of necessity but that he surrendered himself willingly to the struggle’, imitating ‘the Master who, when he was not recognised by the Jews in the darkness of the night, pointed himself out to them’ (In Gordium Martyrem 3; Leemans et al., ‘Let Us Die that We May Live’, p. 62). In fact, when brought before the magistrate, Gordius states: ‘I am here, demonstrating by my action both my contempt of your orders and my faith in God, in whom I have placed my hope. Indeed, I have heard that you outdo many with your cruelty, so I have chosen this opportunity as a suitable one for me to fulfill my desire’ (In Gordium Martyrem 4; Leemans et al., ‘Let Us Die that We May Live’, pp. 62–3). We should also consider the nameless bystanders at Cyprian’s trial voluntary confessors who, though they were not granted their wish, said ‘Let us also be beheaded with him’, after the death sentence was passed upon Cyprian (Acta Cypriani 5.1; Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs,pp. 172–3). 29 That is, if we utilize the martyrs named in Musurillo’s The Acts of the Christian Martyrs. Musurillo gathered the 28 texts which were ‘best- authenticated’ (p. xii) or ‘most reliable’ (p. lvii) ‘or indeed, in the case of those 662 ALAN VINCELETTE

Musurillo comes closer to the truth: ‘Ste. Croix surely overs- tresses the voluntariness of Christian martyrdom, for which there is scant evidence in the earliest acta.’30 Other martyrdoms identified as voluntary by Ste. Croix are not voluntary in this proper restricted sense. This even applies to some of the martyrdoms Ste. Croix seems to place in subcatego- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 ries (a) and (b) when looked at in more detail. For example, Ste. Croix includes Paeon among the voluntary martyrs since in the first two recensions of the martyrdom of Justin and his companions (A and B) Paeon stands up (ἑστώς) and declares that he too is a Christian before being specifically addressed on this issue by the prefect Rusticus.31 However, both of these recensions note that Paeon was among those who were arrested and arraigned.32 True, Paeon here stands up of his own accord before being formally addressed by the prefect, but he would have had to stand up and answer the prefect’s questions later in any event. The case of Saturus, whom Ste. Croix also identifies as a voluntary martyr, is quite fascinating. The account of his martyrdom is detailed in a vision of Perpetua in the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis which notes that Saturus was the first to ascend the visionary ladder to heaven and that he ‘afterwards gave himself up of his own accord (se . . . ultro tradiderat) for our sakes (propter nos) since he had built us up (quia ipse nos aedificauerat) but was not present at the time when we were arrested’.33 Thus it seems that what we have with fictional elements (like the Martyrdom of Pionius, the Martyrdom of Montanus and Lucius, and the Martyrdom of Marian and James), extremely important and instructive’ (p. xii). And if we add to Musurillo’s accounts the martyrs named in Prudentius’s Liber Peristephanon and the homilies found in Leemans et al., ‘Let Us Die that We May Live’, we find a total of 156 named martyrs, of whom 94 are noted as having been arrested by the authorities with no hint of voluntary martyrdom and only four as voluntary martyrs. As acts of voluntary martyrdom would be quite notable and tend to be preserved it is likely that the additional 58 martyrs were also not voluntary martyrs. 30 Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, p. lxi. 31 Acta Justini, A 4.6 and B 4.6 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 44–5, 50–1). 32 Acta Justini, A 1 and B 1 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 42–3, 46–7). Technically A 1 notes Paeon and the others were arrested and arraigned while B 1 merely notes they were arraigned and presupposes their arrest after failing to offer libations to the pagan deities according to the posted directives. The third recension—perhaps the least reliable, however—not only notes that Paeon was among those arrested and arraigned (C 1.1–2) but also has the prefect Rusticus question him before he confesses to being a Christian (C 3.6). See Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 54–9. 33 Passio Perpetuae et Felictatis 4.5 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 110–11). The account does note, as already pointed out (above, n. VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 663 here is the case of a supererogatory act wherein Saturus, the con- structor of the religious community, hands himself over to the authorities in order to join with and continue to fortify the Christians under his tutelage in prison. This is not the act of someone just handing himself over to the authorities in search of martyrdom but someone willing to join and die with those under Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 his care in order to better assist them. Ste. Croix also labels the Phrygian doctor Alexander a voluntary martyr. But Alexander merely had been standing in front of the tribunal and ‘by gestures’ (νεύματι) had been encouraging the Christians to make their confession, and so ‘to those who were standing in the area of the tribunal it was clear that he was as one who was giving birth’.34 Now this act of encouragement, though very brazen and risky, is quite different from someone who turns himself over to authorities, and so Alexander should not be considered a true voluntary martyr. Indeed the fact he was cheering them on νεύματι—which could mean ‘by gestures’, ‘by disposition’, or ‘by whispers’, rather than by loud exclamations—suggests he was not trying to get caught. Nor can the unnamed bystander at the trial of Marian and James be considered a voluntary martyr in the strict sense, as the text merely records that ‘one of our brothers among the bystanders directed the eyes of all the pagans upon himself (in se . . . conuertit) because (quod) already, by the grace of the coming passion, Christ shone upon his mouth and face’.35 From this de- scription it is not exactly clear what drew the attention of the pagans to him, angered them, and resulted in his being asked whether he was a Christian, which he was quick to affirm. Did certain emotions or expressions or a look come across his face that led to his being considered a Christian? Did he stand out by his posture? It is not clear. Nor is his motivation clear. Was it an act of support or expression of glee for the impending martyrdoms,

24), that for the most part deacons and others were allowed to visit and care for the prisoners, though at one point (16.2–4), before eventually relenting, the military tribune had cracked down on visits out of fear that the prisoners would be spirited out of prison through magical spells. Hence perhaps Saturus could have ministered to his pupils while not getting arrested. In any case it is not clear just when Saturus voluntarily joined them in prison, and that he did so to continue to build them up suggests he would have done so even if he could have ministered to them as a visitor, as he was seeking a closer presence with and fortification of them. 34 Epistola Ecclesiarum Viennensis et Lugdunensis 1.49–50 (¼ Eusebius, HE 5.1.49–50; Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 76–9). Musurillo translates νεύματι as ‘by his attitude’. 35 Passio Mariani et Iacobi 9.2 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 206–7). 664 ALAN VINCELETTE or of disdain for the sentence? We do not know. What is clear, however, is that nothing in the text suggests that he actively sought out to identify himself as a Christian but only did so after being noticed by the pagans and directly asked whether he was a Christian. Now most of the so-called voluntary martyrdoms noted by Ste. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Croix fit into subcategory (c)—in other words, they are acts of social protest wherein one risks one’s life for the sake of justice or in support of fellow Christians, and not the true acts of voluntary martyrdom of subcategories (a) or (b). Ste. Croix’s very first example of Lucius is of this sort. Lucius is a Roman bystander who upon ‘seeing how unreasonable the sentence was’ said to the Roman prefect: ‘What is the charge? He has not been convicted of adultery, fornication, murder, clothes-stealing, robbery, or of any crime whatsoever; yet you have punished this man because he confesses the name of Christian?’36 So Lucius was here protesting the fact that the punishment did not fit the crime. It is true that this act led to him being asked about his own beliefs, whereby he admitted he was a Christian and in the end became a martyr. Yet this was not his immediate aim or even long-term goal, even if following his sentencing Lucius ‘then acknowledged his gratitude, realizing (γινώσκων) that he would now be set free of such evil masters, and would depart for the Father and the king of heaven’.37 The example of the Lyonnais martyr Vettius Epagathus also involves an occasion of social protest. After Christian prisoners were brought before the prefect and treated with ‘cruelty’, Vettius Epagathus came forward as ‘he could not endure the unreasonable judgement that was passed against us and he became highly indignant; indeed, he requested a hearing in order to speak in defence of the Christians, to the effect that they were innocent of atheism or impiety’.38 So he too was protesting against what he felt was an unfair sentence. The martyrdom of the Roman tribune Philoromus is of the same variety. Philoromus was present at the trial of Phileas and

36 Martyrium Ptolemaei et Lucii 16 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 40–1). At the end of the account (20) another unnamed individual ‘departed’ (ἀπελθὼν) and is sentenced to punishment. It is not wholly clear what his action, if any, was, nor for what he was sentenced. Did he imitate Lucius? Or did he desert from the army? It is hard to say. 37 Martyrium Ptolemaei et Lucii 19 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 40–1). 38 Epistola Ecclesiarum Viennensis et Lugdunensis 1.9–10 (¼ Eusebius, HE 5.1.9–10; Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 64–5). VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 665 saw him surrounded by relatives who were weeping and pleading with him to sacrifice to the pagan gods so his life would be spared. Philoromus then exclaimed: ‘Why do you foolishly and uselessly test the steadfastness of this man? Why do you wish to bring it about that someone who is faithful to his God becomes unfaith- ful? Do you not see that his eyes do not see your tears, that his Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 ears do not hear your words, because his eyes behold the heavenly glory?’39 Whence Philoromus angered the crowd, who demanded he be given the same sentence as Phileas. The Anatolian Polyeuctes, the hero of Corneille’s play of the same name, was arrested for tearing off a portion of the edict of Decius and smashing idols of the pagan gods at Melitene.40 And the Alexandrian soldier Besas stood near the Christians as they were being led away and rebuked those who insulted them, leading to his own martyrdom in turn.41 These actions again bear little resemblance to turning oneself in to the authorities.42 The fact that Ste. Croix includes such acts of political protest among voluntary martyrdoms of subcategory (c) is quite unwarranted and artificially inflates the perception of voluntary martyrdom in the early church. These are not voluntary martyrdoms proper and should not be considered so.43 It would have been much better for Ste. Croix to have included them in the category of quasi-voluntary martyrdoms, though even classified as such there would be room to quibble.

39 Latin Recension of the Acta Phileae 7.1–2 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 350–3. See also Eusebius, HE 8.9.7–8, which is a much more concise account). 40 At least according to the Greek Recension of the Passio Polyeucti. The Latin Recension of the Passio Poleucti contains no mention of this. See F. C. Conybeare, The Armenian Apology and Acts of Apollonius and Other Monuments of Early Christianity (London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1896), pp. 140– 1, and Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, p. 169. 41 Eusebius, HE 6.41.16. 42 The martyrdoms described in the Passio Fausti, Januarii, et Martialis,of the authenticity of which Ste. Croix is not convinced in any case (Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, p. 174), are similar. The text notes that when Eugenius required adoration of the pagan gods, Faustus, Januarius, and Martial came to him and asked ‘What do you want, Eugenius? Are you someone who prefers to look askance at the servants of God rather than have conﬁ- dence in them (invidere quam credere)?’, which angered him and resulted in him asking them what they wanted to be in turn, to which they replied ‘Christians’. See Thierry Ruinart, Acta Primorum martyrum sincera (Paris: Franciscus Muguet, 1689), p. 556. 43 It is debatable whether such acts are praiseworthy or not. Canon 60 of the Council of Elvira (c.310) denies to those who are put to death for smashing idols the title of martyr. 666 ALAN VINCELETTE

Even the well-known example of the large Christian crowd which approached the proconsul Arrius Antoninus and declared themselves to be Christians, much to his chagrin, seems to have been a mass demonstration, showing how broad the support for and membership in the Christian movement really was. The event comes to us from Tertullian, who records: ‘When Arrius Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Antoninus was vigorously persecuting (persequeretur instanter)in Asia, all the Christians of the province presented themselves en masse (se manu facta obtulerunt) before his tribunal. He then said to the rest, after ordering a few to be led away: “O wretched crea- tures, if you wish to die, you have precipices or nooses”.’44 Now the remark of Arrius Antoninus (preserved in Greek), when isolated, does suggest that the Christians gathered here had a death- wish. However, examination of the context of the passage suggests that this was a mass gathering meant to show Arrius Antoninus just how expansive the Christian community was, in the hope of getting him to stop his persecution. Presumably the Christians knew they might die by this act, but the act itself seems designed to put a halt to the killing of Christians. Finally, there are those martyrs who, while not quite voluntary martyrs in the strict sense, did engage in very provocative acts. Such is the Spanish girl Eulalia, who, upset with the edict of Diocletian requiring Christians to offer sacriﬁce, had to be held back from rushing (ruat) into town and shedding her blood out of love of death (mortis amore) by her mother. Alas, she sneaked out of the house at night, making her way to the tribunal, where the following morning she presented herself haughtily (mane superba), demanding to know why the authorities were behaving in such an inane manner, declaring herself to be someone who tramples idols underfoot, and arguing that the gods Isis, Apollo, and Venus did not exist. When, a bit later, she was asked to offer sacriﬁce, she spat in the governor’s face and scattered the pagan

44 Tertullian, Ad Scapulam 5.1. The preceding declaration of Tertullian, with its phrase ‘we would seem to rush forth to [endure sufferings] in order to prove that we do not fear them but call upon them of our own accord (ultro vocare)’, might suggest acts of voluntary martyrdom. But Tertullian goes on to threaten that the Christians of Carthage might rely upon the same tactic as the Asians, in which case the proconsul Scapula would have to deal with thousands of persons, of every sex, age, and rank, presenting themselves before him (offerentibus se tibi), in which case numerous swords and fires would be required to execute them and the pagan Carthaginians would be in anguish seeing relatives, companions, noble men and women, leaders, and even those of his own inner circle executed (5.2). Here then the political motivations of the threatened imitative act is clear. VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 667 images.45 Again this was an act involving political protest, albeit one that was imprudent and perhaps designed to result in martyrdom. Let us now turn our attention to the Decian and post-Decian martyrdoms described in Eusebius’s Historia Ecclesiastica and Martyres Palestinae, from which Ste. Croix draws the bulk of the Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 so-called ‘voluntary martyrs’ in his published essays.46 While here again we find a number of true voluntary martyrs, if we properly limit what counts as a voluntary martyr and examine the accounts in depth, the amount of voluntary martyrdom noticeably shrinks. Only ten of the 19 martyrs listed by Ste. Croix committed voluntary martyrdom proper. These include the Caesareans Priscus, Malchus, Alexander, and perhaps a Marcionite woman (c.258) who, after first acting ‘in a cowardly manner’ and turning down the opportunity ‘given to those who longed for the prize with heavenly desire . . . lest they should seize the crown of martyrdom prematurely’, later reconsidered and ‘hastened to Caesarea, and went before the judge and met the end’.47 Also included are the Caesareans Timolaus [Timotheus], Dionysius, Romulus, Pa€esis, Alexander of Egypt, and Alexander of Gaza (305) who, upon hearing a rumour that Christians were to be executed at the theatre, bound their hands behind them, approached the governor making his way there, and ‘confessed, crying out and saying, “We are Christians”; and they besought the governor

45 Prudentius, Liber Peristephanon 3.26–40, 64–80, 126–30. 46 For his earlier listing see Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 174–80, which notes the following voluntary martyrs in the Decian and post-Decian accounts of Eusebius: 13. Priscus, Malchus, Alexander, and a Marcionite woman; 17. The man who tore down the edict of persecution at Nicomedia (303); 25. The Thebaid Martyrs (306–12); and 26. The Palestine martyrs Alpheus, Romanus, Apphianus, Aedesius, Antoninus, Zebinas, and Germanus, Timolaus, Dionysius, Romulus, Pa€eis, Alexander of Egypt, Alexander of Gaza, and Valentina. Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 178–9, notes in Palestine an additional 17 quasi-volunteers of type II (Agapius, Dionysius, Theodosia, Promus, Elijah, Ares, five unnamed Christians escorting arrested confessors to Cilicia, Porphyry, Seleucus, Theodulus, Julian, Hadrian, Eubulus), and two of type III (Procopius and a woman of Gaza). One Eusebian example from the Decian period, that of Besas (Ste. Croix, no. 12), has already been mentioned above, at n. 41. 47 Eusebius, HE 7.12 (trans. A. C. McGiffert, NPNF, ser. 2, vol. 1, p. 302). The same account, however, commences by noting that these three men were adorned with divine martyrdom on account of their being conspicuous in the confession of Christ, suggesting that Eusebius may have condensed the timeline and that perhaps they were arrested for confessing Christ in public prior to being brought before the tribunal. 668 ALAN VINCELETTE that they too might be thrown to the wild beasts in the theatre, with their brethren’.48 Ste. Croix rightly points out that Eusebius speaks of their acts with real enthusiasm, i.e. as displaying great courage, patience, and a readiness for martyrdom.49 We can additionally add to the list six voluntary martyrs of Alexandria (c.250) found in Eusebius’s Historia Ecclesiastica but surprisingly Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 not mentioned by Ste. Croix, namely Ammon, Zeno, Ptolemy, Ingenes, Theophilus, and Apollonia. Ammon, Zeno, Ptolemy, and Ingenes were soldiers who, along with the elder Theophilus, stood before the Alexandrian tribunal and made signs with their faces, gnashed their teeth, and gestured with their hands and bodies in order to dissuade a Christian who seemed ready to apostasize. And once the attention of the pagans was on them, rather than waiting to be seized, they ‘rushed up to the tribunal saying that they were Christians’.50 Perhaps they suspected that they were doomed in any case upon being noticed, and certainly their first priority seems to have been to encourage fellow Christians in their faith. All the same, it seems fitting to count them as voluntary martyrs. In a similar manner the Alexandrian virgin Apollonia, after having had her teeth knocked out and been threatened with being burnt alive if she did not join in the pagan offerings, asked for a brief respite and was released, whence ‘she leaped eagerly into the fire and was consumed’.51 This gives us a

48 Eusebius, Martyres Palestinae (¼ MP) 3.3 (trans. H. J. Lawlor and J. E. L. Oulton, Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea: The Ecclesiastical History and The Martyrs of Palestine, 2 vols. [London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1927–8], vol. 1, p. 342). The quotation is from the long recension; the short recension presents the same outline. 49 Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, p. 178. 50 Eusebius, HE 6.41.22–3 (NPNF, ser. 2, vol. 1, p. 285). 51 Eusebius, HE 6.41.7 (NPNF, ser. 2, vol. 1, p. 283). Apollonia is not mentioned by Ste. Croix but is noted as a voluntary martyr in Middleton, ‘Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom’, p. 560, n. 17. It is hard to know what to make of the unnamed martyrs of Thebais whom Ste. Croix considers to be voluntary martyrs (see Eusebius, HE 8.9.5). Ste. Croix argues that these individuals were voluntary martyrs since as soon as a judgment was rendered against the first they ‘lept up before the judgment seat from this side and that’ (ἐπεπήδων ἄλλοθεν ἄλλοι τῷ πρὸ τοῦ δικαστοῦ), seeing that ‘if these men in question had not been volunteers, but had been under arrest already, they would have been brought in under guard, probably in chains’ (Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, p. 176). However, the fact that the Greek text notes this happened as soon as the judgment was handed over ‘against the first’ (τῇ κατὰ τῶν προτέρων ἀποφάσει) suggests that the other martyrs mentioned were already under arrest and awaiting sentence. Nor is it clear that the Roman judi- cial procedures were the same in all places, certainly not if we examine the various early martyrdom accounts. So the fact that they were able to leap up VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 669 total of 16 voluntary martyrdoms from AD 250 on, which repre- sents 23 per cent (16/69) of all the Decian and post-Decian martyrdoms in Eusebius’s Historia Ecclesiastica and Martyres Palestinae.52 A quarter of all these martyrdoms being voluntary is not a negligible amount; however, contrary to what earlier scholars have stated, the clear majority were not voluntary martyrs. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Indeed, if we assume that the other named martyrs were not voluntary ones, such acts being so striking that they would tend to be preserved, the percentage of named voluntary martyrdoms in Eusebius shrinks to 16 per cent. Buck then is fairly accurate in stating: ‘Clearly, voluntary martyrdom was not, as was thought in the past, confined to heretics and schismatics. But neither was it a free-for-all of crazed Christians thirsting after death.’53 None of the other martyrs of Palestine named by Ste. Croix committed voluntary martyrdom proper, nor did any of the other Decian and post-Decian martyrs found in his Historia Ecclesiastica. Some of them, such as Alpheus [Alphaeus] and Romanus, were arrested for publicly rebuking those Christians who apostasized and were sacrificing to the pagan idols. The Caesarean Alpheus ‘with words of warning reproached those who from their fear were drawn into error, and turned them from the worship of idols, and brought to their remembrance the words that were spoken by our Saviour about confession’.54 Romanus not only rebuked Christian apostates in public, but also did so in the courtroom, whereupon he was arrested.55 Others labelled as voluntary martyrs by Ste. Croix rebuked not fellow Christian need not imply they had not been arrested. In any case Eusebius may well be condensing the account here, as he often does, and leaving out important details such as the arrests. 52 There are 100 named martyrs in these works, but only 69 of the accounts give enough information to determine whether a person was arrested prior to voluntarily turning him or herself in, and so whether a voluntary confessor or not. Buck (‘Voluntary Martyrdom Revisited’, pp. 126–7) also points out that an additional 40 unnamed Palestinian martyrs may well have been voluntary confessors and so arrested and sentenced after coming forward to confess when not specifically being sought out (though there is no evidence either way on this issue), but in any case they were not voluntary martyrs as they were sentenced to death in order to rid the labour force in the mines of the sick and weak (Eusebius, MP, 13.9–10, long recension). If we add these individuals to the total then only 14% of the Palestine Martyrs were voluntary martyrs. 53 Buck, ‘Voluntary Martyrdom Revisited’, p. 135. 54 Eusebius, MP 1.5g–h (trans. Lawlor and Oulton, p. 335), quotation from the long recension; the short recension does not record this behaviour by Alpheus. 55 Ibid., 2.1–2, both recensions. 670 ALAN VINCELETTE apostates but the judges or governors themselves. Such a one was Valentina, who ‘could not endure the wickedness and merciless- ness of what was being done to her sister’, and so criticized a judge for torturing her sister in a horrendous manner, and upon being arrested and ordered to sacrifice kicked over a pagan shrine.56 Antoninus, Zebinas, and Germanus rushed at the gov- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 ernor of Caesarea when he was sacrificing to the pagan gods and called upon him to abandon his error and worship the one true God.57 Further, a few Christian martyrs resorted to force against the governors themselves, resulting in their arrest and execution. Apphianus [Epiphanius] physically grabbed the hand of the governor of Caesarea and beseeched him not to offer libations to the lifeless pagan idols.58 His brother Aedesius [Alosis] took things further and, after the governor of Alexandria had condemned some Christian virgins to a life of prostitution, hit the governor in the face, knocked him down, continued to deliver him blows, and rebuked him for acting ‘in a manner contrary to nature towards the servants of God’.59 Certainly some of these actions could be labelled ill-advised, unwarranted, and even morally improper, but, that being said, they were not true acts of voluntary martyrdom. Finally, nearly all of the post-Decian martyrs described in works other than those by Eusebius were not voluntary martyrs proper but instead committed acts of rebellion against the govern- ment.60 These include those martyred or almost martyred for destroying pagan idols or temples at Arethusa, Durostorum, Caesarea, and Merum in Phrygia, namely Aemelianus, Artemius, Cyril of Heliopolis, Eupsychius, Mark, and the Phyrgians Macedonius, Theodulus, and Tatian, the latter of whose accounts of martyrdom bear a remarkable resemblance to that of St Lawrence, who joked, after some time on the gridiron, that his flesh was properly roasted and ready to be turned over and

56 Ibid., 8.6–7 (trans. Lawlor and Oulton, pp. 367–8), quotation from the long recension; the short recension records the same details. 57 Ibid., 9.4–5, both recensions. 58 Ibid., 4.8, both recensions. 59 Ibid., 5.2–3 (trans. Lawlor and Oulton, p. 354), quotation from the long recension; the short recension again presents the outline of the incident. 60 The only ones coming close to voluntary martyrdom are the soldiers who, after apostasizing in order to receive their pay, and upon later being heard uttering the name of Christ, repented of their lapse and went out into the street professing their faith as well as before the emperor, seeking to be put to death (Sozomen, HE 5.17; Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 4.84). VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 671 eaten.61 And it also includes those who spoke out in public against pagan practices or pagan emperors, such as Basil of Ancyra, Busiris, Juventinus, Maximinus, Maris, Theodorus, and the choir director Publia of Antioch who had the choir sing psalms condemning the worship of idols as the emperor Julian passed by.62 Then there is the violent act of the Nitrian monk Ammonius, who Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 threw stones at Orestes, the prefect of Alexandria (c.415), an act which is not only rash but also immoral, yet still not an act of voluntary martyrdom per se.63 Parsed carefully, then, the bulk of the evidence suggests that voluntary martyrdom was not very common among early Christians. If we distinguish between those who actually turned themselves in, i.e. voluntary martyrs proper, versus those who protested the unfair or cruel treatment of Christians, those who faced the risk of death by encouraging Christians not to apostasize, or those who desired death or hastened their own demise after being arrested and condemned to die, we find very few Christians who fall into the first category of voluntary martyrdom proper. Combining all of the evidence, in fact, we only find 12 per cent (20/167) of the named martyrs committing voluntary martyrdom in the early church.64

61 Sozomen, HE 5.10 and Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 4.88 (Mark of Arethusa); Theodoret, HE 3.3 (Cyril of Heliopolis), 3.14 (Artemius); Jerome, Chronicon a.2379 (Aemilianus); Socrates, HE 3.15 (Macedonius, Theodulus, and Tatian); Sozomen, HE 5.11 (Macedonius et al. and Eupsychius); see the account of the death of St Lawrence in Ambrose, De ofﬁciis ministrorum 1.41.216, and in Prudentius, Peristephanon 2. 62 Socrates, HE 3.19, Sozomen, HE 5.19–20, and Theodoret, HE 3.7 (Theodorus); Sozomen, HE 5.4 (Maris), 5.11 (Busiris and Basil); Theodoret, HE 3.11 (Juventinus and Maximinus), 3.14 (Publia). 63 Socrates, HE 7.14. 64 If we add in the martyrdoms that do not give enough information to tell if the martyrdom was voluntary or not, but probably were not, as such events would tend to be memorialized and immortalized, we have only 7% of the early martyrdoms being voluntary (20/296). I have recused myself here from examin- ing the question of how many of the early Christian voluntary martyrs were part of heretical sects such as Montanism or Circumcellionism, especially regarding those from Phrygia and North Africa. For more on this issue see: Alan Dearn, ‘Voluntary Martyrdom and the Donatist Schism’, Studia Patristica 39 (2006), pp. 27–32, and William Tabbernee, ‘Early Montanism and Voluntary Martyrdom’, Colloquium 17 (1985), pp. 33–44, as well as ‘Montanists and Voluntary Martyrdom’ and ‘Montanists and Flight during Persecution’, in William Tabbernee, Fake Prophecy and Polluted Sacraments: Ecclesiastical and Imperial Reactions to Montanism (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, 84; Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. 201–42, 243–60. 672 ALAN VINCELETTE

Nor is this surprising, as we find several statements condemning the practice of voluntary martyrdom among the Church Fathers. Now Ste. Croix was too good a a scholar not to note their presence even if he was quick to minimize their overall signifi- cance.65 Others, however, have gone further. Droge states: ‘It is true that we find occasional references—Evarestus, Clement, Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Cyprian—condemning voluntary martyrdom, but there was no official, universally recognized judgment on the matter.’66 He also goes on to say that the condemnations of voluntary martyrdom were acts of self-justification as they mainly came from Christians who fled in the face of persecution.67 Middleton agrees with Droge, adding; ‘The creation of the category equivalent to the “voluntary martyr” was as much a response to a crisis in ecclesiastical authority as any genuine distaste for overenthusiasm.’68 However, pace Droge, Middleton, and Moss, the critiques of voluntary martyrdom in the early church were not just acts of self- vindication but were based on scriptural antecedents and various arguments. Moreover, we can additionally expand upon the list of Christian critics of voluntary martyrdom given by Ste. Croix, put it into more of a context, and show how it did reflect the view of the magisterium such as it existed at that time.69 We find, in fact, that there is scriptural precedent for not too hastily seeking one’s martyrdom but rather avoiding it until

65 Ste. Croix, Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy, pp. 155–62. Ste. Croix gives eleven numbered examples, then adds a few additional ones as well. 66 Droge, ‘The Crown of Immortality’, p. 152. On Evarestus see below, n. 70. 67 Droge, ‘The Crown of Immortality’, p. 157. See also Middleton, ‘Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom’, p. 571, and Moss, ‘The Discourse of Voluntary Martyrdom’, pp. 542–4. 68 Middleton, ‘Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom’, p. 572. 69 Indeed apart from the praise lavished on some of the early voluntary martyrs, such as by Eusebius (but cf. HE 4.15.8), the only Christian to specifically encourage voluntary martyrdom per se was Tertullian in his Montanist period. Tertullian, in his De fuga in persecutione (c.202), argues that one should not flee in times of persecution on account of the fact that persecution comes from God and that it would set a bad precedent (4–6, 11, 14). He does note, however, that it was not uncommon for Christians to flee persecution, as with Rutilius, and that some have even argued for this on the basis of Matt. 10:23. Yet in response Tertullian asserts that this imperative only applied during the time of the apostles (4–5; see also Jerome, Commentarius in evangelium Matthaei 1.10.23; John Chrysostom, Homiliae in Matthaeum 34.10.23 for a similar view). Mention can also be made of Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Romanos 2–5, who vociferously implores his fellow Christians not to oppose his looming martyrdom, but this was written after he was arrested and condemned to die. VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 673 caught. Such is the view found in Matt. 10:23, where Jesus tells his disciples: ‘When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.’ This instruction becomes the basis for several condemnations of voluntary martyrdom found in the early church. Already around AD 200 we find the Martyrium Polycarpi praising Polycarp, who sought refuge outside the city once a persecution Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 against Christians began. In this, writes Evarestus, he displayed a true and solid love, desiring not just his own salvation but his whole community’s as well.70 The behaviour of Polycarp is even contrasted with that of the Phrygian Quintus, who had given himself up voluntarily but then apostasized, with the key proof-text referenced: ‘This is the reason, brothers, that we do not approve of those who come forward of themselves; this is not the teaching of the Gospel.’71 Some 50 years later Bishop Cyprian of Carthage wrote a letter to the Christians of his city, noting that he has retired to a secret retreat (in secessu abdito) so that his martyrdom would occur in Carthage rather than another town and instructing them: ‘Dearest brothers, according to the discipline of the command- ments of the Lord which you have always received from me . . . keep peace and tranquility, nor should any of you stir up some trouble for the brothers or offer yourselves to the gentiles voluntarily (ultro se gentilibus offerat). [Yet] when apprehended and delivered up you should speak.’72 This echoes Cyprian’s De lapsis, which condemns those who turned themselves over to the

70 Martyrium Polycarpi 1.2; cf. 5.1; for Evarestus’s role as scribe of the letter see Martyrium Polycarpi 20. 71 Martyrium Polycarpi 4 (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs,pp. 4–5; see above, n. 25). Some have argued that the Quintus pericope is a later addition to the Martyrium Polycarpi. But even if this is true the same sentiments are expressed elsewhere in the document, and the historical fact of Polycarp fleeing Smyrna seems to be the kernel upon which any later additions are based. On whether or not the Quintus episode is a later interpolation see Middleton, ‘Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom’, pp. 569–70; Gerd Buschmann, ‘Martyrium Polycarpi 4 und der Montanismus’, Vigiliae Christianae 49 (1995), pp. 105–45; Boudewijn Dehandschutter, Polycarpiana: Studies on Martyrdom and Persecution in Early Christianity. Collected Essays (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 205; Leuven: Peeters, 2007), pp. 43–83; and Hans von Campenhausen, ‘Bearbeitungen und Interpolationen des Polykarpmartyriums’, Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften 3 (1957), pp. 1–48. The fact that the author of the Latin recension of the Acta Carpi, Papyli, et Agathonicae 6.1–5 (c.250) seems to have added in an official arrest and sentencing of Agathonice, not found in the Greek recension, also suggests the dislike of acts of voluntary martyrdom among the early Christians (see above, n. 26). 72 Epistle 81 [82].1–2. 674 ALAN VINCELETTE authorities of their own accord—‘voluntarily running to the forum’ (ultro ad forum currere) and ‘freely rushing to their death’ (ad mortem sponte properare)—whence they lapsed, instead of properly waiting to be apprehended and interrogated.73 Cyprian, moreover, points out that ‘the Lord commanded one in persecution to withdraw and flee (in persecutione secedere et fugere)...For Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 since the crown [of martyrdom] cannot be received unless the hour of undertaking it arrives, anyone abiding in Christ who departs for a while does not deny his faith but waits for the [proper] time.’74 Again, around 305 we read how Ferreolus of Vienne fled his persecutors ‘in accordance with the gospel’.75 Finally, in 309, Bishop Quirinus of Sicia directly appealed to the Gospel passage when, after his arrest, the magistrate asked him why he was fleeing. He replied: ‘I was not fleeing, rather I was following the decree of my Lord ... “If you are persecuted in one town, flee to another”.’76 Indeed the hierarchy of Carthage built upon the statements of Cyprian to issue specific regulations regarding martyrdom. Bishop Mensurius of Carthage, in an epistle to Bishop Secundus of Tigisis in Numidia (c.305), prohibited from being honoured as

73 De lapsis 8; cf. Tertullian, Ad uxorem 1.3. 74 De lapsis 10. A similar account is found in the Acta Proconsularia Cypriani 1.5 (258) where Cyprian responds to the proconsul inquiring about Christian priests in Carthage: ‘our discipline prohibits anyone from offering himself up voluntarily (se ultro offerat) ... they cannot offer themselves up but if sought out by you they will be found’ (Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, pp. 168–71). The Vita Cypriani 7–9 and 13 expands upon this and praises Cyprian for putting off his martyrdom as he was thus able to benefit his community in a time of persecution by teaching its members the virtues of modesty, patience, and mercy, strengthening them in the faith, encouraging them to engage in acts of love, repentance, and forgiveness, and steering the church on a steady course. Musurillo warns, however, that the Vita Cypriani is of dubious value (ibid., p. xxx). 75 Passio Ferreoli 4 (Ruinart, Acta Primorum martyrum sincera, p. 511). The fact that this text was not included in the volume of Musurillo, however, shows he questioned its historical accuracy. 76 Passio Quirini 2 (Ruinart, Acta Primorum martyrum sincera, p. 552). This text again does not make the collection of Musurillo. The Passio Juliani (c.400) is fascinating as it tells of how the soldier Julian of Brioude initially fled Vienne when persecution broke out there, in accordance with Matt. 10:23. Julian subsequently hid in the house of an old woman in Brioude. When, however, he learned that he was being sought out and indeed that persecutors had shown up at the woman’s doorstep and she was seeking to move them on he immediately bounded outside (continuo foris exsiliens) and announced his presence to them (en coram adsum), not wishing to miss out on martyrdom (PL 71, col. 1105B). This account does come close to being one of voluntary?martyrdom. VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 675 confessors or martyrs those who ‘while not arrested offer themselves up (se offerent) to persecution and voluntarily (ultro) claim they possess Scriptures which they would not hand over, when no one had asked them to do so’.77 Similar teachings are found in the Catechetical School of Alexandria, under the leadership of Clement of Alexandria. In his Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Stromata (c.200) Clement complains that some heretics, having a cowardly love of life, redefine martyrdom as simply having knowledge of the true God, in order to thereby denounce those who confess to being Christians and are hence put to death as being self-murderers and committers of suicide. At the opposite end of the spectrum, says Clement, are those who eagerly hand themselves over to authorities, thereby showing hatred for the Creator and not preserving the mark of an authentic martyrdom.78 For Jesus in Matt. 10:23 advises us to flee persecutors in order that we not be the authors nor abettors of any evil to any one, either to ourselves or the persecutor and murderer. For He, in a way, bids us take care of ourselves. But he who disobeys is rash and foolhardy. If he who kills a man of God sins against God, he also who presents himself before the judgment-seat becomes guilty of his death. And such is also the case with him who does not avoid persecution, but out of daring presents himself for capture. Such a one, as far as in him lies, becomes an accomplice in the crime of the persecutor. And if he also uses provocation, he is wholly guilty.79

77 Augustine, Breviculus collationis cum Donatistis 3.13.25 (PL 43, col. 638). Mensurius seems to have thought that such individuals had suspect motives and turned themselves in to avoid having to pay off outstanding debts, to cleanse themselves of wicked deeds, or to live by the generosity of fellow Christians ministering to the prisoners. 78 Stromata 4.4 and 7.11. 79 Stromata 4.10 (trans. ANF, vol. 2, p. 423). Clement himself may well have fled Alexandria during the persecution of 202 (see Eusebius, HE 6.11.6 and 6.14.9–11). In spite of the fact that Clement’s theology of martyrdom carefully traces out the proper attitude of the martyr in the light of Aristotle and other Greek philosophers, as well as Scripture, his thought is abruptly dis- missed by some modern scholars. Droge argues that ‘Despite Clement’s theological sophistication, in the final analysis his distinction between the martyr and the self-murderer is rather arbitrary and a result, perhaps, of his personal situation’ (Droge and Tabor, A Noble Death, p. 144). And Moss claims that Clement is here assuming the rhetorical high ground that the Aristotelian mean affords him (‘The Discourse of Voluntary Martyrdom’, pp. 542–4). Similar thoughts to Clement’s, however, are found in other members of the Alexandrian School. Origen, for instance, argues that Christians flee persecution not from fear of death but to preserve themselves and employ themselves in the betterment of others, for one must not expose oneself to danger rashly but only prudently when one has good reasons for doing so (Contra Celsum 676 ALAN VINCELETTE

Bishop Peter of Alexandria, who trained at and may have himself led the Catechetical School, later issued several canons deal- ing with the Diocletianic Persecution (306). While not condemning those who gave themselves up of their own accord if they were repenting for having lapsed or wished to be an exem- plar to counter those who lapsed,80 he otherwise condemns those Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 who rashly and unreflectively (‘as if asleep’) seek out martyrdom, and referencing Matt. 10:23 notes that it is better to take heed of ourselves, flee to another place, and wait to be arrested.81 Athanasius of Alexandria was wholly in keeping with this trad- ition when he fled Alexandria in 355 and defended himself against the Arian charge of cowardice by writing that it was the way of the saints to flee persecution in order to continue to preach to and teach those in need.82 Hence, he remarks, the law for Christians is ‘to flee when persecuted, and to hide when sought after, and not rashly tempt the Lord, but wait . . . until the appointed time of death arrive, [yet] be ready, that, when the time calls, or when they are taken, they may contend for the truth even unto death’.83 In this way one avoids murdering oneself, as it were, and is better able to minister to one’s flock, resist one’s persecutors, and spare

1.65 and 8.44; Commentarius in Matthaeum 10.23; Commentarius in Iohannem 28.192). And Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria, another head of the Catechetical School, argued that his own flight from persecution in 257 occurred under ‘divine guidance’ (Eusebius, HE 6.29.5, 6.35, and 6.40.1–9). Finally, years later Bishop Cyril of Alexandria (c.435) defended the mandate of Jesus to flee persecution, for if one casts oneself into dangers and dies at once one will not be able to benefit others by one’s teaching (Commentarius in Matthaeum 26.10.23; see also the Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum 1.1.2). 80 Epistola Canonica 8 and 11. 81 Epistola Canonica 9 and 13. These canons were reaffirmed by the Council in Trullo in 692 (canon 2). In the possibly apocryphal Epistola ad Apollonium Peter of Alexandria additionally berates Bishop Apollonius of Sioout for not having the good sense to escape the city, along with all its snares, prior to laps- ing. See John Barns and Henry Chadwick, ‘A Letter Ascribed to Peter of Alexandria’, JTS, NS 24 (1973), pp. 443–55, at 454. Peter of Alexandria himself fled Alexandria in 303 before later being martyred, according to Eusebius (HE 7.32.31; see also the Acta Sincera Petri Alexandrinae) and was head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, according to Philip Sidetes (HE, fr. 2). 82 Apologia de fuga sua 8, 11, 17, and 21–2. 83 Apologia de fuga sua 22 (trans. NPNF, ser. 2, vol. 4, p. 263). Indeed Pope Julius I even writes an Epistola contra Orientales pro Athanasio (341) defending the flight of Athanasius from Alexandria. See also the Vita Iohannis Eleemosynarii 48 (PL 73, cols. 378–9) (c.620) on the flight of Bishop John V from Alexandria during the Persian persecution. See also Elizabeth Dawes and Norman Baynes (eds.), ‘The Life of St. John the Almsgiver’, in Three Byzantine Saints: Contemporary Biographies Translated from the Greek (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1948), p. 255. VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 677 not only one’s fellow Christians from additional harm but one’s persecutors from the guilt of wrongly shedding innocent blood.84 The Cappadocian Fathers were also critical of those who engaged in acts of voluntary martyrdom. Bishop Basil of Caesarea admonished a bishop of Ancyra for leaping at the chance for martyrdom instead of staying on in the flesh for the sake of his com- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 munity.85 Bishop Gregory of Nazianzus of Constantinople encapsulates these views when he writes that ‘the law of martyrdom alike forbids us voluntarily to go to meet it (in consideration for the persecutors, and for the weak) or to shrink from it if it comes upon us; for the former shows foolhardiness, the latter cowardice’.86 Again, by fleeing persecution when it is prudent we spare the persecutors from sinning.87 Finally, Bishop Theodoret of Cyrus writes that No one ought to withdraw himself from life unbidden, but should await either a natural or a violent death. Our Lord gave us this lesson when He bade those that are persecuted in one city [to] flee to another and again commanded them to quit even this and depart to another . . . For what looks discreditable is made honourable by the divine command.88 These views were codified in the Antiochian Constitutiones Apostolorum (c.375), where Christians are instructed: ‘Wherefore neither let us be rash and hasty to thrust ourselves into dangers?.?.?. nor let us, when we do fall into dangers, be fearful or ashamed of our profession.’89 Nor is this view unique to the Eastern Church Fathers, as we find the same sentiments in Ambrose and Augustine. Bishop Ambrose of Milan tells the clergy that Jesus instructed Christians to flee in times of persecution if necessary to avoid failure to carry?out one’s martyrdom through weakness of flesh or mind.90 Bishop Augustine of Hippo condemned the Donatists and Circumcellions for turning themselves over to authorities and

84 Apologia ad Constantiam 32; Epistola encyclica 5; Vita Antonii 46. 85 Epistle 29. 86 Oratio 43.6 (NPNF, ser. 2, vol. 7, p. 397); see also Basil of Caesarea, Homily XVIII, In Gordium Martyrem 2–4 (Leemans et al., ‘Let Us Die that We May Live’, pp. 60–2). 87 Oratio 4.88; Oratio 7.14. 88 Epistle 3 (NPNF, ser. 2, vol. 3, pp. 250–1). 89 Constitutiones Apostolorum 5.3.1 and 5.6 (trans. ANF, vol. 7, p. 439); cf. Didascalia Apostolorum 19. 90 De officiis ministrorum 1.37.187; cf. 2.30.153. See also Jerome, Commentarius in evangelium Matthaei 2.14.13, which allows flight if one is afraid of apostasizing. 678 ALAN VINCELETTE demanding death, or if that option was unavailable of directly committing suicide.91 For, with Cyprian, a Christian should not offer himself up for slaughter, and indeed is permitted to flee persecution.92 Augustine, in regard to servants of Christ, specifies his position in the following manner: Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 Let them flee by all means from city to city when any of them is especially sought for by persecutors. Yet regarding others who are not so pursued, let them provide suitable nourishment to their fellow-servants whom they know are otherwise unable to survive, lest the church be deserted. When, however, there is danger to all, that is bishops, clergy, and laity, let not those who depend upon others be deserted by those on whom they depend. Therefore either let all remove themselves to a secure location, or let those who have need of remaining not be deserted by those of whom the necessities of the church are supplied.93 Finally, Abbot Paschasius Radbertus of Corbie (c.830) points out that just as it would be foolish for a soldier in the midst of a war to offer himself up to death when more adversaries could first be conquered by force, so too it would be foolish for a soldier of Christ seeking the palm of martyrdom not to tolerate its tempor- ary loss and flee persecution for the welfare of others and continue to support the struggle in this way when necessary.94 All the evidence therefore suggests that early Christian bishops, as well as the leaders of the major catechetical institutes, were united in supporting flight from persecutors and condemning voluntarily turning oneself in to them. They even gave several arguments for this: (1) That one might otherwise lapse through weakness of the will (Martyrium Polycarpi; Cyprian; Peter of Alexandria; Ambrose); (2) that one should trust in the Lord’s providence and await one’s appointed time (Clement of Alexandria; Cyprian; Athanasius of Alexandria); (3) that one should have regard for one’s own temporal welfare when not in conflict with one’s spiritual welfare (Clement of Alexandria; Peter of Alexandria); (4) that one should remain to teach and serve one’s fellow Christians (Martyrium Polycarpi; Vita Cypriani; Origen; Athanasius of Alexandria; Basil of Caesarea; Augustine; Cyril of Alexandria; Paschasius Radbertus); (5) that one should avoid bringing the guilt of killing an innocent person upon one’s

91 Contra Gaudentium 1.22.25, 1.27.30, 1.28.32; Epistle 185.3.12. 92 Contra Gaudentium 1.31.40; see also Contra litteras Petiliani 2.19.43. 93 Epistle 228.2. See also Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 151; Remigius of Auxerre, Commentum in Matthaeum 10.23. 94 Expositio in Evangelium Matthaei 7.10.23. VOLUNTARY MARTYRDOM 679 persecutors (Clement of Alexandria; Athanasius of Alexandria; Gregory of Nazianzus). While not all Christians obeyed the bishops’ advice (especially those in ‘heretical’ sects), their mandate was clear. Michael Figura is thus quite accurate in stating:

It is of course true that from the beginning there existed Christians who Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jts/article/70/2/652/5556433 by guest on 28 September 2021 purposely sought the attention of the magistrates in order to obtain martyrdom ...Inspite of this, the Church has never promoted the impulse to die for the faith. Outstanding Christians have withdrawn from death of martyrdom by escaping, and have sanctioned such escape. The prevalent opinion during the persecutions of the early Church was this: one may certainly not deny one’s faith, but neither should one seek out the danger of a bloody martyrdom, and one may avoid it if possible.95 In conclusion, though the number of voluntary martyrdoms occurring in the early church was not inconsiderable, around 12 per cent of the total martyrdoms, combining all the evidence, by and large most Christians were martyred for publicly celebrating their faith, confessing their faith when arrested, refusing to sacri- ﬁce to pagan images, or engaging in acts of political protest or attempts to edify persecuted Christians. Very few of the early Christians accordingly had a ‘death-wish’ or an irrational desire to become a martyr. Moreover, we see that the bishops and educa- tors of the early Christian communities worked as one to elimin- ate the practice of voluntary martyrdom. They did so on the basis of various arguments that can certainly be defended as reasonable. This helps explain why voluntary martyrdom represented but a small subset of all the early Christian martyrdoms.

95 Michael Figura, ‘Martyrdom and the Following of Jesus’, Communio 23 (1996), pp. 101–9, at 108–9. See also Paolo Prosperi, ‘The Witness of the Martyrs in the Early Church’, Communio 41 (2014), pp. 8–39, at 32–4.