e too numerous to fly and too few
to resist. The ecclesiastical writers present us with a sad tale of
tortures and of death borne by those who refused to renounce their
faith,--a tale which is only made less sad by the doubt how far
the writers' feelings may have misled their judgment, and made them
overstate the numbers.

But we may safely rely upon the account which Eusebius gives us of what
he himself saw in Egypt. Many were put to death on the same day, some
beheaded and some burnt. The executioners were tired, and the hearts of
the pagan judges melted by the unflinching firmness of the Christians.
Many who were eminent for wealth, rank, and learning chose to lay down
their lives rather than throw a few grains of wheat upon the altar, or
comply with any ceremony that was required of them as a religious test.
The judges begged them to think of their wives and children, and pointed
out that they were the cause of their own death; but the Christians were
usually firm, and were beheaded for the refusal to take the test.
Among the most celebrated of the Egyptian martyrs were Peter, Bishop of
Alexandria, with Faustus, Dius, and Ammonius, presbyters under him;
the learned Phileas, Bishop of Thmuis, Hesychius, the editor of the
Septuagint, and the Bishops Pachomius and Theodorus; though the pagans
must have been still more surprised at Philoromus, the receiver-general
of the taxes at Alexandria. This man, after the prefect of Egypt and
the general of the troops, was perhaps the highest Roman officer in the
province. He sat in public as a judge in Alexandria, surrounded by a
guard of soldiers, daily deciding all causes relating to the taxes of
Egypt. He was accused of no crime but that of being a Christian, which
he was earnestly entreated to deny, and was at liberty indirectly to
disprove by joining in some pagan sacrifice. The Bishops of Alexandria
and Thmuis may have been strengthened under their trials by their rank
in the church, by having themselves urged others to do their duty in the
same case, but the receiver-general of the taxes could have had nothing
to encourage him but the strength of his faith and a noble scorn of
falsehood; he was reproached or ridiculed by all around him, but he
refused to deny his religion, and was beheaded as a common criminal.

The ready ministers of this persecution were Culeianus, the prefect of
the Thebaid, and Hierocles, the prefect of Alexandria. The latter
was peculiarly well chose