Acts of Maximus (complete)
Latin text: Gebhardt 1902 (OCR made for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Acts of Maximus (title)
0Gebhardt, 121
Acta S. Maximi martyris.
Acts of Saint Maximus, martyr.
Notes and citation
Summary: Title of the record.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (item number): X. Acta → Acta.
Cite (SBL): Act. pref. (Gebhardt, 121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acta-maximi/0). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acta-maximi/0
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the original (Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta, 1902, or Knopf, Ausgewählte Märtyrerakten, 1913; new OCR, slips corrected as logged); compared afterwards with ANF where it has the text, otherwise re-read against the original.
Chapter 1
1Gebhardt, 121
Decius imperator uolens opprimere uel superare legem Christianorum, decreta constituit per uniuersum orbem ut omnes Christiani recedentes ἃ deo uiuo et uero daemoniis sacrificarent, qui uero noluissent, suppliciis subiacerent. eo tempore famulus dei Maximus, uir sanctus, ultro se palam ostendit. erat uero plebeius, negotii sui curam gerens. comprehensus igitur oblatus est Optimo proconsuli apud Asiam. proconsul dixit ad eum: Quis uocaris? respondit: Maximus dicor. proconsul dixit: Cuius condicionis es? Maximus dixit: Ingenuus natus, seruus uero Christi. proconsul dixit: Quod officium geris? Maximus respondit: Homo sum plebeius, meo negotio uiuens. proconsul dixit: Christianus es? Maximus respondit: Etsi peccator, Christianus tamen sum. proconsul dixit: Non cognouisti decreta inuictissimorum principum quae nuper aduenerunt? Maximus respondit: Quae? proconsul dixit: Vt omnes Christiani relicta superflua superstitione cognoscant uerum principem, cui omnia subiacent, et eius deos adorent. Maximus respondit: Iniquam regis huius saeculi prolatam sententiam cognoui, et ideo me palam ostendi. proconsul dixit: Sacrifica ergo diis. Maximus respondit: Ego non sacrifico nisi soli deo, cui me ab ineunte aetate sacrificasse congratulor. proconsul dixit: Sacrifica ut salueris; quod si nolueris, uariis faciam te deficere tormentis. Maximus respondit: Hoc est quod semper optaui. propterea enim me manifestaui, ut tandem carens miserabili et temporali uita aeternam reciperem.
The emperor Decius, wishing to crush or overcome the law of the Christians, issued decrees throughout the whole world that all Christians should withdraw from the living and true God and sacrifice to demons, and that those who refused should be subjected to punishments. At that time the servant of God Maximus, a holy man, came forward openly of his own accord. He was a man of the common people, attending to his own business. He was arrested, then, and brought before Optimus, proconsul in Asia. The proconsul said to him, “What is your name?” He answered, “I am called Maximus.” The proconsul said, “What is your condition?” Maximus said, “Born free, but a slave of Christ.” The proconsul said, “What is your occupation?” Maximus answered, “I am a man of the people, living by my business.” The proconsul said, “Are you a Christian?” Maximus answered, “Sinner though I am, I am still a Christian.” The proconsul said, “Do you not know the decrees of the most invincible princes which have lately arrived?” Maximus answered, “Which?” The proconsul said, “That all Christians, abandoning their superfluous superstition, should acknowledge the true prince, to whom all things are subject, and worship his gods.” Maximus answered, “I have learned of the unjust sentence issued by the king of this world, and that is why I have come forward openly.” The proconsul said, “Sacrifice, then, to the gods.” Maximus answered, “I sacrifice to none but the one God, to whom I rejoice that I have sacrificed from my earliest years.” The proconsul said, “Sacrifice, that you may be saved; but if you refuse, I will make you perish by various tortures.” Maximus answered, “This is what I have always desired; that is why I came forward, so that at last, rid of this miserable and temporal life, I might receive the eternal one.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Maximus gives himself up under Decius and refuses to sacrifice.
- The decrees are those of Decius (A.D. 250). Some witnesses read “free by nature” and “now” for “lately.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line number in the text; line number misread; section numeral garbled; section numeral garbled; OCR slip; stray mark; the editor's apparatus leaked into the text at the page break): sacriflearent → sacrificarent; ? eo tempore → eo tempore; ? comprehensus → comprehensus; *proconsul dixit → proconsul dixit; τὸ respondit → respondit; ? proconsul dixit: Cuius eondicionis → proconsul dixit: Cuius condicionis; $ proconsul → proconsul; "Vt omnes → Vt omnes; 2o cognoscant → cognoscant; cognoui, et natus] ai. natura nuper] al. nunc ideo → cognoui, et ideo; palam ostendi.. → palam ostendi.; saerifico → sacrifico.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom, Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Act. 1 (Gebhardt, 121; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acta-maximi/1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acta-maximi/1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the original (Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta, 1902, or Knopf, Ausgewählte Märtyrerakten, 1913; new OCR, slips corrected as logged); compared afterwards with ANF where it has the text, otherwise re-read against the original.
Chapter 2
2Gebhardt, 122
Tune proconsul iussit eum fustibus caedi. cumque caederetur dicebat ei: Sacrifica, Maxime, ut ab his liber sis tormentis. Maximus respondit: Haec non sunt tormenta, quae pro nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi inferuntur, sed sunt unctiones. Si enim recessero a domini mei praeceptis, quibus sum de euangelio eius eruditus, uera et perpetua mihi manebunt tormenta. tunc proconsul iussit eum in equuleo suspendi. cumque torqueretur dicebat ad eum: Iam resipisce, miser, ab insipientia tua et sacrifica, ut animam lucreris. Maximus respondit: Animam meam lucrabor, si non sacrificauero; quod si sacrificauero, perdo eam. mihi enim nec fustes nec ungulae nec ignis sentiendi dant dolorem; quia in me manet gratia Christi, quae me saluum faciet in aeternum omnium sanctorum orationibus, qui in hae colluctatione certantes uestras superauerunt insanias nobisque uirtutum exempla reliquerunt. tunc proconsul dedit in eum sententiam dicens: Eum qui sacris legibus assensum noluit accommodare, ut magnae deae Dianae sacrificaret, ad metum reliquorum Christianorum obrui lapidibus praecepit diuina clementia. et sic raptus est athleta Christi a ministris diaboli, gratias agens deo et patri per Iesum Christum filium eius, qui eum dignum iudicauit certando diabolum superare; ductusque foras muros lapidibus caesus reddidit spiritum.
Then the proconsul ordered him to be beaten with clubs. While he was being beaten, he said to him, “Sacrifice, Maximus, so that you may be free of these torments.” Maximus answered, “These are not torments that are inflicted for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, but anointings. For if I depart from the precepts of my Lord, in which I have been instructed from his gospel, true and everlasting torments will await me.” Then the proconsul ordered him to be hung on the rack. While he was being tortured he said to him, “Come to your senses now from your folly, wretch, and sacrifice, so that you may gain your soul.” Maximus answered, “I will gain my soul if I do not sacrifice; but if I sacrifice, I lose it. For neither clubs nor hooks nor fire make me feel pain, because the grace of Christ remains in me, which will save me for ever, through the prayers of all the saints, who, contending in this struggle, overcame your madness and left us examples of virtue.” Then the proconsul passed sentence on him, saying, “The divine clemency has ordered that he who refused to give his assent to the sacred laws, so as to sacrifice to the great goddess Diana, be stoned, to strike fear into the rest of the Christians.” And so the athlete of Christ was seized by the ministers of the devil, giving thanks to God the Father through Jesus Christ his Son, who had judged him worthy to overcome the devil in the contest; and led outside the walls, he was stoned and gave up his spirit.
Matt 10:39 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 19:27 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Maximus is tortured and stoned outside the walls.
- Cf. Matt 10:39 (Gebhardt's margin). Some witnesses read “I order” for “the divine clemency has ordered.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; section numeral garbled; stray mark; the editor's apparatus and a running head leaked into the text at the page break): Máximus → Maximus; nostri lesu Christi → nostri Iesu Christi; domiini → domini; isum de euangelio → sum de euangelio; uera et. perpetua → uera et perpetua; ?tunc proconsul iussit eum in equuleo → tunc proconsul iussit eum in equuleo; «cumque torqueretur → cumque torqueretur; Iain resipisce → Iam resipisce; sacrifieauero → sacrificauero; si'sacrifioauero → si sacrificauero; Saluum faciet → saluum faciet; ?tunc proconsul dedit → tunc proconsul dedit; athleta deficere] al. interire liber sis] al. libereris αἱ. sufferuntur 308. cf. Mt. 10, 39. quae] al. qui al. Spreuere sacris] aj. diuinis al. praecipio (om. diu. clem.) X. Acta S. Maximi III. 1833 Christi → athleta Christi; iudieauit → iudicauit; certando ^ diabolum → certando diabolum.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Act. 2 (Gebhardt, 122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acta-maximi/2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acta-maximi/2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the original (Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta, 1902, or Knopf, Ausgewählte Märtyrerakten, 1913; new OCR, slips corrected as logged); compared afterwards with ANF where it has the text, otherwise re-read against the original.
Chapter 3
3Gebhardt, 123
Passus est autem famulus dei Maximus apud Asiam prouinciam, secundo idus Maii, sub Decio imperatore et Optimo proconsule, regnante domino nostro Iesu Christo; cui est gloria in saecula saeculorum, amen.
The servant of God Maximus suffered in the province of Asia on the second day before the Ides of May, under the emperor Decius and the proconsul Optimus, while our Lord Jesus Christ reigns, to whom is glory to the ages of ages. Amen.
Notes and citation
Summary: Date of the martyrdom (14 May).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): lesu → Iesu.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Act. 3 (Gebhardt, 123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acta-maximi/3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/acta-maximi/3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-acta-maximi-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the original (Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta, 1902, or Knopf, Ausgewählte Märtyrerakten, 1913; new OCR, slips corrected as logged); compared afterwards with ANF where it has the text, otherwise re-read against the original.