ans, in 360; and is mentioned by
Socrates to have survived our saint, though he continued still in
banishment under Jovian. The holy martyr of whom we speak was also
called Basil. He was priest of Ancyra under the bishop Marcellus, and a
man of a most holy life, and unblemished conversation, and had been
trained up by saints in the practices of perfect piety. He preached the
word of God with great assiduity, and when the Arian wolf, who bore his
name, attempted to plant his heresy in that city, he never ceased to cry
out to the people, with the zeal and intrepidity of a prophet, exhorting
their to beware of the snares which {642} were laid for them, and to
remain steadfast in the Catholic faith. He was forbidden by the Arian
bishops, in 360, to hold ecclesiastical assemblies: but he despised the
unjust order; and as boldly defended the Catholic faith before
Constantius himself. When Julian the Apostate re-established idolatry,
and left no means untried to pervert the faithful, Basil ran through the
whole city, exhorting the Christians to continue steadfast, and not
pollute themselves with the sacrifices and libations of the heathens,
but fight manfully in the cause of God. The heathens laid violent hands
on him; and dragged him before Saturninus the proconsul, accusing him of
sedition, of having overturned altars, that he stirred up the people
against the gods, and had spoken irreverently of the emperor and his
religion. The proconsul asked him if the religion which the emperor had
established was not the truth? The martyr answered: "Can you yourself
believe it? Can any man endued with reason persuade himself that dumb
statues are gods?" The proconsul commanded him to be tortured on the
rack, and scoffing, said to him, under his torments: "Do not you believe
the power of the emperor to be great, who can punish those who disobey
him? Experience is an excellent master, and will inform you better. Obey
the emperor, worship the gods, and offer sacrifice." The martyr, who
prayed during his torments with great earnestness, replied: "It is what
I never will do." The proconsul remanded him to prison, and informed his
master Julian of what he had done. The emperor approved of his
proceedings, and dispatched Elpidius and Pegasus, two apostate
courtiers, in quality of commissaries, to assist the proconsul in the
trial of the prisoner. They took with them from Nicomedia one Aslepius,
a wicked priest of Esculapius, and arrived at Ancy