Disputation of Achatius · §6 · Acts of the Martyrs

Refusing to give names and rejecting the sorcery charge

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Martianus interrogates Achatius, demanding the names of the others and accusing Christians of sorcery for introducing a new religion.

Martianus said, "Give me the names of them all." Achatius answered, "Their names are written in the heavenly book, on the pages of God. How then could mortal eyes see what the immortal and invisible power of God has written?"

Martianus said, "Where are the sorcerers, the partners in your craft or the teachers of this cunning deception?" Achatius answered, "We have received everything from God, and we still receive it. But we dread the school of the magical art." Martianus said, "You are sorcerers because you are bringing in some new kind of religion or other."

Achatius answered, "We destroy the ones you first make yourselves, and then fear once you have made them. Your gods will run out if the craftsman runs short of stone, or the stone finds no craftsman. For we fear him, not one we make, but one by whom we were made. As Lord he created us, as Father he loved us, and like a good patron he snatched us from eternal death."

Greek

V. Martianus ait: Omnium trade mihi nomina. respondit Achatius: Nomina eorum caelesti libro et divinis paginis sunt annotata. quomodo ergo oculi mortales aspicient quod immortalis virtus dei et invisibilis annotavit? Martianus ait: Ubi sunt magi, socii artis tuae vel doctores huius artificiosae fallaciae? respondit Achatius: Nos omnia meruimus a deo et meremur, sectam vero magicae artis horremus. Martianus ait: Ideo magi estis quia novum nescio quod genus religionis inducitis. respondit Achatius: Illos destruimus quos vos prius facitis et a vobis factos ipsi timetis. deficient enim vobis dii, si artifex saxo, aut saxum non abundaret artifici. timemus enim nos illum, non quem fabricamus, sed a quo fabricati sumus; qui nos creavit ut dominus, amavit ut pater, et aeternae morti, quasi bonus patronus, eripuit.

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About this text

Martianus, consular prefect under Decius, has Achatius brought before him to require sacrifice with him to the emperor's gods.

This work is anonymous and names no addressee. It is a disputation in dialogue form set under Decius, in which Martianus, consular prefect, has Achatius brought before him to require sacrifice with him to the emperor's gods. The narrator presents the interrogation as remembrance of the deeds of God's servants, ending with imprisonment and referral of the record to Decius, and the clause explaining why Achatius was singled out is corrupt and uncertain.

Achatius argues that Christians honor the emperor by constant prayer for his life, just rule, armies and world peace, but sacrifice is owed to the true God, not to a man, identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Most High Adonai above cherubim and seraphim. He rejects Apollo, Hyacinth, Neptune, Asclepius, Venus, Jupiter, Juno and the rest of that sort, refuses to deny Christ who will judge living and dead, and refuses to name those of the whole church or accept the charge of sorcery. The reader meets Achatius, also called Agathangelus, Martianus, Decius, Jesus Christ, Adam, and Piso and Menander, whose place in one clause as separate bishop and presbyter or as further titles of the speaker is uncertain, and hears judgment sayings, a saying of Christ, and a psalm quoted by Achatius, with Martianus as the voice argued against.

Here sacrifice means pagan offering demanded as proof of loyalty, true God means the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob opposed to visible gods, and gods means Apollo, Jupiter, Juno and others. Son of God and Word of truth name Jesus Christ, Christian faith means the life under attack, whole church means the universal Christian people, deny means public disowning under threat, force means judicial compulsion to sacrifice, and sorcerers states the charge against Christians. Quotations come without book names, introduced by prophet cries, it is written, and again, and psalms follow old numbering about one number lower than modern numbering, cited as Gen, Ps, Matt and Rom, while one passage about the rest of that sort stands in an unreadable gap.

Printed text used

Translated from Oscar von Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta (Berlin: A. Duncker, 1902) (Latin)

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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