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Date of death and closing praise
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The narrator closes the account after Cyprian has been executed and buried by giving the date of his death.
Most blessed Cyprian the martyr suffered on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of October under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus, but our Lord Jesus Christ reigns, to whom belong honor and glory for ages of ages, amen.
Greek VI. Passus est autem beatissimus Cyprianus martyr die octava decima kalendarum Octobrium sub Valeriano et Gallieno imperatoribus, regnante vero domino nostro Iesu Christo; cui est honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum, amen.
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About this text The official record of Cyprian, bishop of Carthage: his questioning by the governor Paternus and exile to Curubis, then his arrest, sentence by Galerius Maximus, and death by the sword in 258.
This work is anonymous and names no addressee. It follows in sequence the interrogations, condemnation and execution of Cyprian at Carthage for communal memory, and it states its purpose only in its closing doxology.
Before Paternus the governor, Cyprian confesses that he is a Christian and bishop who worships only the one true creator God and refuses the worship rites, and he refuses to name the priests. After exile at Curubis he is brought before Galerius Maximus the next governor, where he again admits his leadership and refuses the rites ordered by the emperors Valerian and Gallienus. Galerius Maximus consults his council and condemns him as organizer of an unlawful association hostile to Roman gods and laws. He is executed by the sword, thanks God, and is carried away by night by fellow Christians for burial on the grounds of Macrobius Candidianus, with Julian the priest and Julian the subdeacon helping to blindfold him. The speeches of Paternus, Cyprian, Galerius Maximus and the crowd of fellow Christians are quoted in direct exchange, with Cyprian answering the two governors.
Here bishop means leader of the local Christians, priests means its subordinate clergy, governor means the Roman governor judging the case, worship rites means the acts of Roman worship demanded, gatherings means forbidden Christian gatherings, cemeteries means places for burial that Christians were forbidden to enter, and fellow Christians means those accompanying and burying Cyprian. No book of the Bible is formally quoted and no titles occur. The only biblical language is Cyprian's creator formula of the God who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, which recalls Exodus, Acts and Revelation.
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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