E01165: The Greek Martyrdom of Kyprianos and Ioustina of Antioch, of the late 4th or early 5th c., recounts the martyrdom of the bishop of Antioch *Kyprianos with the virgin Ioustina (S01704), and of a certain *Theoktistos (S00866), all near Nicomedia (north-west Asia Minor), under Diocletian and Maximian. Their relics are transferred to Rome and buried there. Their feast is on 26 September.
Creators: name: Bryan
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2016
Subjects: History

description: Martyrdom of Kyprianos, Ioustina, and Theoktistos (BHG 455)<br><br>Summary:<br><br>Kyprianos saves many from the devil (the persecution) in various areas by his letters, but the devil informs the comes of the East Eutolmios that Kyprianos the teacher of the Christians has overturned the worship of the gods, and perturbs the East, together with a certain virgin (Ioustina). Eutolmios has them arrested and brought to Damascus, where he interrogates them. Kyprianos tells him of his earlier life as a pagan, of the story of Aglaidas and of how his magic was defeated by Ioustina. He invites him to give up paganism. Eutolmios orders Kyprianos to be scraped and Ioustina to be scourged. The latter says a prayer of thanks. The comes orders Kyprianos to be kept in gaol, and Ioustina in the house of Terentios. Some days later, he interrogates them again, and orders fat, tar, and wax to be boiled in a frying pan onto which Kyprianos is thrown, but he remains untouched by the fire. Ioustina is temporarily scared, but, encouraged by Kyprianos, she goes into the frying pan, and the two of them lie there untouched, while Kyprianos says a prayer of thanksgiving. Eutolmios vows to defeat the power of Christ and orders the pagan priest called Athanasios to enter the frying pan himself. Athanasios does so, invoking Herakles and Asklepios, but he is immediately consumed by fire. Eutolmios is enraged by the death of his friend, and consults his relative, Terentios, who advises him not to harm the saints, but to send them to the emperor. Eutolmios writes to the Caesar Claudius Diocletian (sic) reporting that the two Christians have opted for death. They are taken to the river Gallos near Nicomedia (sic) for execution. They are given time to pray, and Kyprianos asks Ioustina to be beheaded first. A certain Theoktistos is passing by and greets Kyprianos. A certain Phouleanos (Fulvinus) orders that Theoktistos also be killed, and after him Kyprianos is beheaded. The bodies of the martyrs are left to be eaten by the dogs. Some days later, pious sailors from Rome, having heard that Kyprianos was their compatriot, collect the relics of the saints and take them to Rome. They hand them to Rufina, a noble matron of the lineage of Claudius, who buries them on a prominent hill in the middle of the city, on the forum of Claudius, where miraculous healings take place. These things took place in Nikomedia, under Diocletian and Maximian, on 26 of the month Panemos [i.e. September], four days before the kalends of October.<br><br>Text: The Martyrdom of Kyprianos and Ioustina has not yet received a critical edition. <br>A version of the Greek text can be found in: Acta Sanctorum, Sept. VII (1760), 242-245; while a fuller version of the text is available only in German translation, without the Greek original, in: Zahn 1882, 63-73.<br>Summary: Efthymios Rizos.