rates of the city, they have been questioned
before the people and cast into prison until the coming of the governor.
He, from the moment our people appeared before him, committed all manner
of violence against them.

"Then stood forth one of our brethren, Vettius Epagathus, full of love
toward God and his neighbor, living a life so pure and strict that,
young as he was, men held him to be the equal of the aged Zacharias. He
could not bear that judgment so unjust should go forth against us, and,
moved with indignation, he asked leave to defend his brethren, and to
prove that there was in them no kind of irreligion or impiety. Those
present at the tribunal, among whom he was known and celebrated, cried
out against him, and the governor himself, enraged at so just a demand,
asked him no more than this question, 'Art thou a Christian?'
Straightway with a loud voice he declared himself a Christian, and was
placed among the number of the martyrs.

"Afterward, the rest began to be examined and classed. The first, firm
and well prepared, made hearty and solemn confession of their faith.
Others, ill prepared and with little firmness, showed that they lacked
strength for such a fight. About ten of them fell away, which caused us
incredible pain and mourning. Their example broke down the courage of
others, who, not being yet in bonds, though they had already had much to
suffer, kept close to the martyrs, and withdrew not out of their sight.
Then were we all stricken with dread for the issue of the trial: not
that we had great fear of the torments inflicted, but because,
prophesying the result according to the degree of courage of the
accused, we feared much falling away. They took, day by day, those of
our brethren who were worthy to replace the weak; so that all the best
of the two churches, those whose care and zeal had founded them, were
taken and confined.

"They took, likewise, some of our slaves, for the governor had ordered
that they should be all summoned to attend in public; and they, fearing
the torments they saw the saints undergo, and instigated by the
soldiers, accused us falsely of odious deeds, such as the banquet of
Thyestes, the incest of Oedipus, and other crimes which must not be
named or even thought of, and which we cannot bring ourselves to believe
that men were ever guilty of. These reports having once spread among the
people, even those persons who had hitherto by reason, perhaps, of
relationship, shown