1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 17 – 18 – The Martyrdom of Andrew
Some scholars speculate that the Acts of Andrew draws on the Acts of Peter and the Acts of John, which would place the composition of this work subsequent to them; albeit, this work is still regarded as quite early, probably in the mid- to late-2nd century. It is the product of the Encratites, who forbade marriage, a heresy expressly rebuked by Paul (1 Tm. 4:1–4). Some scholars also see gnostic thought in the Acts of Andrew, but this is disputed.
“. . . is there in you altogether slackness? Are you not yet convinced in yourselves that you do not yet bear His goodness? Let us be reverent; let us rejoice with ourselves in the bountiful fellowship which comes from Him. Let us say to ourselves: Blessed is our race! By whom has it been loved? Blessed is our state! From whom has it obtained mercy? We are not cast on the ground—we that have been recognized by such a great highness; we are not the offspring of time, afterward to be dissolved by time; we are not a product of motion, made to be again destroyed by itself, nor things of earthly birth, ending again therein. We belong, then, to a greatness, to which we aspire, of which we are the property, and perhaps to a greatness that has mercy on us. We belong to the better, therefore we flee from the worse; we belong to the beautiful, for whose sake we reject the foul; to the righteous, by whom we cast away the unrighteous; to the merciful, by whom we reject the unmerciful; to the Savior, by whom we recognize the destroyer; to the light, by whom we have cast away the darkness; to the One, by whom we have turned away from the many; to the heavenly, by whom we have learned to know the earthly; to the abiding, by whom we have seen the transitory. If we desire to offer to God, who has had mercy on us, a worthy thanksgiving, or confidence, or hymn, or boasting, what better cause do we have than that we have been recognized by Him?”
1 And having discoursed thus to the brothers, he sent every one of them away to his house, saying to them: “Neither are you ever forsaken by me—you that are servants of Christ—because of the love that is in Him: neither again will I be forsaken by you because of His intercession.” 2 And each one departed to his house: and there was among them rejoicing after this sort for many days, while Aegeates did not give consideration to prosecute the accusation against the apostle. 3 Every one of them then was confirmed at that time in hope toward the Lord, and they continually assembled without fear in the prison, with Maximilla, Iphidamia, and the rest, being sheltered by the protection and grace of the Lord.
1 But one day Aegeates, as he was hearing cases, remembered the matter concerning Andrew: and as one seized with madness, he left the case which he had in hand, and rose up from the judgment-seat, and ran quickly to the praetorium, inflamed with love for Maximilla and desiring to persuade her with flatteries. 2 And Maximilla was with him beforehand, coming from the prison and entering the house. And he went in and said to her:
1 “Maximilla, your parents counted me worthy of being your consort and gave me your hand in marriage, not looking to wealth, or descent, or renown, but it may be for my good disposition of soul: 2 and, that I may skip over much that I might utter in reproach of you, both of that which I have enjoyed at your parents’ hands and you from me during all our life, I have come, leaving the court, to learn from you this one thing, so answer me reasonably: if you were as the wife of former days, living with me in the way we know—sleeping, conversing, bearing offspring with me—I would deal well with you in all points; 3 indeed, [even] more—I would set free the stranger whom I hold in prison; but if you will not, I would do nothing harsh to you, for indeed I cannot; but him, whom you cherish more than me, I will afflict yet more. 4 Consider, then, Maximilla, to which of the two you incline, and answer me tomorrow; for I am fully prepared for this emergency.”
1 And with these words he went out; 2 but Maximilla again at the accustomed hour, with Iphidamia, went to Andrew: and putting his hands before her own eyes, and then putting them to her mouth, she began to declare to him the whole matter of the demand of Aegeates. 3 And Andrew answered her: “I know, Maximilla my child, that you yourself are moved to resist the whole attraction of marital union, desiring to cease a foul and polluted way of life; 4 and this has long been firmly held in your intention; but now you wish for the further testimony of my opinion. 5 I testify, O Maximilla: do not do it; do not be vanquished by the threat of Aegeates; do not be overcome by his discourse; do not fear his shameful counsels; do not fall to his artful flatteries; do not consent to surrender yourself to his impure spells, but endure all his torments looking to us for a short span, and you will see him wholly numbed and withering away from you and from all that are related to you. 6 But that which I most needed to say to you—for I do not rest until I fulfill the business which is seen, and which comes to pass in your person—has escaped me: 7 and rightly in you do I behold Eve converting, and in myself Adam returning: for that which she suffered in ignorance, you now set right by returning; and that which the spirit suffered, which was overthrown with her and slipped away from itself, is set right in me—with you who see yourself being brought back. 8 For you have remedied her defect by not suffering like her; and I have perfected his imperfection by taking refuge with God. 9 That which she disobeyed you have obeyed; that to which he consented I flee from; and that which they both transgressed we have been aware of, for it is ordained that everyone should correct his own fall.”
1 “I, then, having said this as I have said it, would go on to speak as follows: Well done, O nature that is being saved, for you have been strong and have not hidden yourself [from God like Adam]! 2 Well done, O soul that cries out of what you have suffered, and you return to yourself! 3 Well done, O man that understands what is yours and presses on to what is yours! 4 Well done, you that hear what is spoken, for I see you to be greater than things that are thought or spoken! I recognize you as more powerful than the things which seemed to overpower you; as more beautiful than those which cast you down into filth, which brought you down into captivity. 5 Perceiving then, O man, all this in yourself, that you are immaterial, holy light, akin to Him that is unborn, that you are intellectual, heavenly, translucent, pure, above the flesh, above the world, above rulers, above principalities, over whom you are in truth, then comprehend yourself in your condition and receive full knowledge and understand wherein you excel: 6 and beholding your own face in your essence, break all bonds apart—I say not only those that are of your birth, but those that are above birth, whereof we have set forth to you the names which are exceedingly great. 7 Earnestly desire to see Him that is revealed to you, Him who does not come into being, whom perhaps you alone will recognize with confidence.”
1 “I have spoken these things to you, Maximilla, for in their meaning the things I have spoken reach to you. 2 Just as Adam died in Eve because he consented to her confession, so I now live in you who keep the Lord’s commandment and establish yourself in the dignity of your being. 3 But trample down the threats of Aegeates, Maximilla, knowing that we have God who has mercy on us. 4 And do not let his noise move you, but remain celibate; and let him punish me not only with such torments as bonds, but let him cast me to the beasts or burn me with fire, and throw me from a precipice. 5 And what do I need to say? There is only this one body; let him abuse that as he will, for it is akin to himself.”
1 “And yet again, [this] is my speech to you, Maximilla: I say to you, do not give yourself over to Aegeates [and] withstand his ambushes; for indeed, Maximilla, I have seen my Lord saying to me: Andrew, Aegeates’ father the Devil will free you from this prison. 2 Therefore, let it be from this time on [that you] keep yourself celibate and pure, holy, unspotted, sincere, free from adultery, not reconciled to the discourses of our enemy, unbent, unbroken, tearless, unwounded, not storm-tossed, undivided, not stumbling, without sympathy for the works of Cain. 3 For if you do not give yourself up, Maximilla, to what is contrary to these, I will also rest, although I am thus forced to leave this life for your sake (that is, for my own). 4 But if I were thrust out from here—even I, who, it may be, might avail through you to profit others that are akin to me—and if you were persuaded by the discourse of Aegeates and the flatteries of his father the serpent, so that you turned to your former works, know that on your account I should be tormented until you yourself saw that I had despised life for the sake of a soul which was not worthy.”
1 “I therefore implore the wise man that is within you that your mind continues seeing clearly. 2 I implore your mind that is not seen, so that it might be preserved whole. 3 I beg you: love your Jesus and do not yield to the worse. 4 Assist me, you whom I implore as a man, so that I may become perfect. 5 Help me also, so that you may recognize your own true nature; feel with me in my suffering, so that you may take knowledge of what I suffer and escape suffering; see that which I see, and you will be blind to what you see; see that which you should, and you will not see what you should not; 6 listen to what I say and cast away that which you have heard.”
1 “I have spoken these things to you and to everyone who hears, if he will hear. But you, O Stratocles,” he said, looking toward him, “Why are you so oppressed, with many tears and groanings to be heard far off? 2 What is the lowness of spirit that is on you? Why your great pain and your great anguish? Do you take note of what is said, and why I pray for you to be disposed in mind as my child? 3 Do you perceive to whom my words are spoken? Has each of them taken hold on your understanding? Have they touched your intellect? 4 Do I have you as one that has listened to me? Do I find myself in you? Is there in you one that speaks whom I see to be my own? 5 Does he love Him that speaks in me and desire to have fellowship with Him? Does he wish to be made one with Him? Does he hasten to become His friend? Does he yearn to be joined with Him? 6 Does he find in Him any rest? Does he have a place to lay his head? Does nothing oppose him there—nothing that is angry with him, resists him, hates him, flees from him, is savage, avoids, turns away, starts off, is burdened, makes war, talks with others, is flattered by others, agrees with others? Does nothing else disturb him? 7 Is there one within that is strange to me—an adversary, a breaker of peace, an enemy, a cheat, a sorcerer, a crooked dealer, unsound, guileful, a hater of men, a hater of the word, one like a tyrant, boastful, puffed up, mad, akin to the serpent, a weapon of the devil, a friend of the fire, belonging to darkness? 8 Is there in you anyone, Stratocles, that cannot endure my saying these things? Who is it? Answer: do I talk in vain? Have I spoken in vain? Indeed, says the man in you, Stratocles, who now weeps again.”
1 And Andrew took the hand of Stratocles and said: “I have him whom I loved; I will rest on him whom I look for; for your ongoing groaning and weeping without restraint is a sign to me that I have already found rest, that I have not spoken to you these words which are akin to me, in vain.”
1 And Stratocles answered him: “Do not think, most blessed Andrew, that there is anything else that afflicts me but you, for the words that come forth from you are like arrows of fire shot against me, and every one of them reaches me and truly burns me up. 2 That part of my soul which inclines to what I hear is tormented, divining the affliction that is to follow, for you yourself depart, and, I know, nobly: but hereafter when I seek your care and affection, where will I find it, or in whom? 3 I have received the seeds of the words of salvation, and you were the sower: but that they should sprout up and grow needs none other but you, most blessed Andrew. 4 And what else do I have to say to you but this? I need much mercy and help from you, to become worthy of the seed I have from you, which will not otherwise increase perpetually or grow up into the light except [if] you will it and pray for them and for the whole of me.”
1 And Andrew answered him: “This, my child, was what I beheld in you myself. And I glorify my Lord that my thought of you did not walk on the void, but knew what it said. 2 But that you may know the truth: tomorrow Aegeates will deliver me up to be crucified, for Maximilla, the servant of the Lord, will enrage the enemy that is in him, to whom he belongs, by not consenting to that which is hateful to her; and by turning against me, he will think to console himself.”
1 Now while the apostle spoke these things, Maximilla was not there, for she having heard throughout the words with which he answered her, and being in part reassured by them, and of such a mind as the words pointed out, set forth not unadvisedly nor without purpose and went to the praetorium. 2 And she bade farewell to all the life of the flesh, and when Aegeates brought to her the same demand which he had told her to consider, whether she would lie with him, she rejected it—and thenceforth he [fully] disposed himself to putting Andrew to death and considered to what death he should expose him. 3 And when of all deaths crucifixion alone prevailed with him, he went away with his [own] kind and dined; 4 and Maximilla, the Lord going before her in the likeness of Andrew, came back to the prison with Iphidamia; and there being a great gathering of the brothers therein, she found Andrew discoursing thus:
1 “I, brothers, was sent forth by the Lord as an apostle to these regions whereof my Lord thought me worthy, not to teach any man, but to remind every man that is akin to such words that they live in evils which are temporal, delighting in their damaging delusions: 2 from which I have always exhorted you also to depart, and encouraged you to press toward things that endure, and to flee from everything that is transitory—for you see that none of you stands, but that all things, even to the customs of men, are easily changeable. 3 And this happens because the soul is untrained, and errs toward nature, and holds pledges to its error. 4 I therefore account them blessed who have become obedient to the word preached and thereby see the mysteries of their own nature; for whose sake all things have been built up.”
1 “Therefore, I command you, beloved children: build yourselves firmly on the foundation that has been laid for you, which is unshaken, and against which no evil-minded [person] can conspire. 2 Be then rooted on this foundation; be established, remembering what you have seen and all that has come to pass while I walked with you all. 3 You have seen works worked through me which you have no power to disbelieve, and such signs come to pass as perhaps even dumb nature will proclaim aloud; 4 I have delivered you words which I pray may so be received by you as the words themselves would have it. 5 Be established then, beloved, on all that you have seen, and heard, and partaken of. 6 And God on whom you have believed will have mercy on you and present you to Himself, giving you rest throughout all ages.”
1 “Now as for that which is to happen to me, do not let it really trouble you as some strange spectacle, that the servant of God to whom God Himself has granted much in deeds and words, should by an evil man be driven out of this temporal life: 2 for not only to me will this come to pass, but to all of them that have loved and believed on Him and confessed Him. 3 The Devil that is utterly shameless, will arm his own children against them, so that they may consent to him; and he will not have his desire. 4 And why he attempts this, I will tell you. From the beginning of all things, and if I may say so, since He that has no beginning came down to be under his rule, the enemy that is a foe to peace drives away from [God] such a one as does not indeed belong to Him, but is someone of the weaker sort and not fully enlightened, nor yet able to recognize himself. 5 And because he does not know Him, he must therefore be fought against by him [(the Devil)]. 6 For he, thinking that he possesses him and is his master forever, opposes him so much, that he makes their enmity to be a kind of friendship: for suggesting to him his own thoughts, he often portrays them as pleasurable and deceptive, by which he thinks to prevail over him. 7 He was not, then, openly shown to be an enemy, for he feigned a friendship that was worthy of him.”
“And this his work he carried on so long that he [(man)] forgot to recognize it, but he [(the Devil)] knew it himself: that is, he, because of his gifts. But when the mystery of grace was illuminated, and the counsel of rest manifested, and the light of the Word shown, and the race of them that were saved was proved, warring against many pleasures, the enemy himself despised, and himself, through the goodness of Him that had mercy on us, derided because of his own gifts, by which he had thought to triumph over man—he began to plot against us with hatred and enmity and assaults; and he has determined this: not to cease from us until he thinks to separate us [from God]. For before, our enemy was without care, and offered us a feigned friendship which was worthy of him, and was able not to fear that we, deceived by him, should depart from him. But when the light of dispensation was kindled . . . it exposed that part of his nature which was hidden and which thought to escape notice, and made it confess what it is. Knowing therefore, brothers, that which will be, let us be vigilant, not discontented, not making a proud figure, not carrying on our souls marks of him which are not our own, but wholly lifted upward by the whole word, let us all gladly await the end, and take our flight away from him, so that he may be henceforth shown as he is, who our nature to . . .”
1. And after he had thus discoursed throughout the night to the brothers, and prayed with them, and committed them to the Lord, early in the morning, Aegeates the proconsul sent for the apostle Andrew out of the prison and said to him: “The end of your judgment is at hand—you stranger, enemy of this present life, and foe of all my house! Why have you thought it good to intrude into places that are not yours, and to corrupt my wife who was previously obedient to me? Why have you done this against me and against all Achaia? Therefore, you will receive from me a gift in repayment of that you have worked against me.”
2. And he commanded him to be scourged by seven men and afterward to be crucified; and charged the executioners that his legs should be left unpierced, and so he should be hung up, thinking by this means to torment him [all] the more.
3. Now the report was announced throughout all Patras that the stranger, the righteous man, the servant of Christ whom Aegeates held prisoner, was being crucified, having done nothing wrong; and they ran together with one accord to the sight, being angry with the proconsul because of his impious judgment.
4. And as the executioners led him to the place to fulfill that which was commanded them, Stratocles heard what had come to pass, and ran quickly, and overtook them, and beheld the blessed Andrew being violently dragged by the executioners like a criminal. And he did not spare them, but beating every one of them severely and tearing their coats from top to bottom, he pulled Andrew away from them, saying, “You may thank the blessed man who has instructed me and taught me to refrain from extremity of wrath, for otherwise I would have showed you what Stratocles is able to do, and what is the power of the foul Aegeates. For we have learned to endure that which others inflict on us.” And he took the hand of the apostle and went with him to the place by the seashore where he was to be crucified.
5. But the soldiers who had received him from the proconsul left him with Stratocles, and returned and told Aegeates, saying, “As we went with Andrew, Stratocles prevented us, and tore our coats, and pulled him away from us, and took him with him, and behold, here we are as you see.” And Aegeates answered them: “Put on other garments and go and fulfill that which I commanded you [to do] with the condemned man; but do not be seen by Stratocles, neither answer him again if he asks anything of you; for I know the rashness of his soul, what it is, and if he were provoked he would not even spare me.” And they did as Aegeates said to them.
6. But as Stratocles went with the apostle to the place appointed, Andrew perceived that he was angry with Aegeates and was reviling him in a low voice, and he said to him: “My child Stratocles, I would have you from now on keep your soul unmoved and remove this temper from yourself, and neither be inwardly disposed thus toward the things that seem hard to you, nor be inflamed outwardly: for it suits the servant of Jesus to be worthy of Jesus. And I will say another thing to you and to the brothers that walk with me: that the man that is against us, when he dares anything against us and finds not one to consent to him, is stricken, and beaten, and completely deadened because he has not accomplished that which he undertook; let us therefore, little children, always have Him before our eyes, lest if we fall asleep, He slaughter us like an adversary.”
7. And as he spoke this and yet more to Stratocles and them that were with him, they came to the place where he was to be crucified; and [seeing the cross set up at the edge of the sand by the seashore,] he left them all, and went to the cross, and spoke to it:
8. “Hail, O Cross! Yes, be glad indeed! I know well that you will be at rest from now on—you that have for a long time been wearied, being set up and awaiting me. I come to you whom I know to belong to me. I come to you that have yearned after me. I know your mystery, for which you have been erected: for you are planted in the world to establish the things that are unstable; and one part of you stretches up toward Heaven, so that you may signify the heavenly Word; and another part of you is spread out to the right hand and the left, so that it might cause the envious and adverse power of the evil one to flee and gather into one the things that are scattered abroad; and another part of you is planted in the earth and securely set in the depth, so that you may join the things that are in the earth and that are under the earth to the heavenly things.
9. O Cross, contrivance of the salvation of the Most High! O Cross, trophy of the victory [of Christ] over [His] enemies! O Cross, planted on the earth and having your fruit in the heavens! O name of the Cross, filled with all things.
10. Well done, O Cross, that have bound the movement of the world! Well done, O shape of understanding, that have shaped the shapeless! Well done, O unseen punishment, that severely punishes the substance of the knowledge that many gods have and drives out from among mankind him that devised it! Well done, you that clothed yourself with the Lord, and bore the thief as a fruit, and called the apostle to conversion, and did not refuse to accept us!
11. But how long will I delay, speaking thus, and not embrace the Cross, that by the Cross I might be made alive, and by the Cross [win] the common death of all and depart out of life?
12. Come here, you ministers of joy to me—you servants of Aegeates—accomplish the desire of us both, and bind the lamb to the wood of suffering, the man to the Maker, the soul to the Savior.”
13. And the blessed Andrew, having thus spoken, standing on the earth, looked earnestly on the cross, and directed the brothers that the executioners should come and do that which was commanded them; for they stood far off.
14. And they came and bound his hands and his feet and did not nail them, for they had such a charge from Aegeates; for he wished to afflict him by hanging him up, and so that in the night he might be devoured alive by dogs. And they left him hanging and departed from him.
15. And when the multitudes that stood by (of them that had been made disciples in Christ by him) saw that they had done to him none of the things accustomed with them that are crucified, they hoped to hear something again from him. For as he hung, he moved his head and smiled. And Stratocles asked him, saying, “Why do you smile, O servant of God? Your laughter makes us mourn and weep because we are bereaved of you.” And the blessed Andrew answered him: “Will I not laugh, my son Stratocles, at the vain assault of Aegeates, whereby he thinks to punish us? We are strangers to him and his conspiracies. He has no [ears] to hear; for if he had, he would have heard that the man of Jesus cannot be punished, because he is henceforth known by Him.”
16. And thereafter he spoke to them all in common, for the heathen also had come together, being angry at the unjust judgment of Aegeates.
17. “You men that are present here—and women and children, old and young, bond and free, and all that will hear: take no heed of the vain deceit of this present life, but rather heed us who hang here for the Lord’s sake and are about to depart out of this body; and renounce all the lusts of the world, and scorn the worship of the abominable idols, and run to the true worshiping of our God who does not lie, and make yourselves a temple pure and ready to receive the Word.”
18. And the multitudes, hearing the things which he spoke, did not depart from the place; and Andrew continued speaking yet more to them, for a day and a night. And on the following day, beholding his endurance, and constancy of soul, and wisdom of spirit, and strength of mind, they were angry, and hastened with one accord to Aegeates, to the judgment-seat where he sat, and cried out against him, saying, “What is this judgment of yours, O proconsul? You have misjudged! You have condemned unjustly! Your court is against [the] law! What evil has this man done? Wherein has he offended? The city is troubled: you harm us all! Do not destroy Caesar’s city! Give us the righteous man! Restore us the holy man! Do not slay a man dear to God! Do not destroy a man gentle and pious! Behold, he has hung for two days and yet lives, and has tasted nothing, and yet refreshes all of us with his words; and behold, we believe in the God whom he preaches. Take down the righteous man, and we will all become philosophers; untie the pure man, and all of Patras will be at peace; set free the wise man, and all of Achaia will be set free by him!”
19. But at first, when Aegeates would not hear them, but beckoned with the hand to the people that they should depart, they were filled with rage and were at the point to do him violence, being about two thousand in number.
20. And when the proconsul saw them to be nearly mad, he feared lest there should be an uprising against him, and rose up from the judgment-seat, and went with them, promising to release Andrew. And some went on ahead, and they signified to the apostle and to the rest of the people that were there why the proconsul was coming. And all the multitude of the disciples rejoiced together with Maximilla, and Iphidamia, and Stratocles.
21. But when Andrew heard it, he began to say: “O the dullness, and disobedience, and simplicity of them whom I have taught! How much have I spoken, and even to this day I have not persuaded them to flee from the love of earthly things! But they are yet bound to them, and continue in them, and will not depart from them. What does this affection, and love, and sympathy with the flesh mean? How long will you heed worldly and temporal things? How long will you not understand the things that are above us, and not press on to overtake them? From now on, leave me to be put to death in the manner which you behold, and let no man by any means free me from these bonds, for so it is appointed to me to depart out of the body and be present with the Lord, with whom I am also crucified. And this will be accomplished.”
22. And he turned to Aegeates and said with a loud voice: “Why have you come, Aegeates, that are an alien to me? What will you dare anew, what plan, or what attempt? Will you tell us that you have converted and have come to free us? Indeed, not if you convert, indeed, Aegeates, will I now consent to you—not [even] if you promise me all your wealth will I depart from myself; not if you say that you are mine will I trust you. And do you, proconsul, free him that is bound? Him that has been set free? That has been recognized by his countrymen? That has obtained mercy and is beloved by him? Do you free him that is alien to you? The stranger? That only appears to you? I have one with whom I will be forever, with whom I will converse for numberless ages. To Him I go; to Him I hasten, who also made you known to me, who said to me: Understand that Aegeates and his gifts; do not let that fearful one frighten you, nor think that he holds you who are Mine. He is your enemy; he is pestilent, a deceiver, a corrupter, a madman, a sorcerer, a cheat, a murderer, wrathful, without compassion. Therefore, depart from me, you worker of all iniquity!”
23. And the proconsul, hearing this, stood speechless and was, as it were, beside himself; but as all the city made an uproar that he should free Andrew, he drew near to the cross to free him and take him down. But the blessed Andrew cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, do not permit Your Andrew, who has been bound on Your cross, to be freed again; do not give me, that am atop Your mystery, to the shameless Devil; O Jesus Christ, do not let Your adversary free him who is hung on Your grace; O Father, do not let this little one humble him that has known Your greatness any longer. But you, Jesus Christ, whom I have seen, whom I hold, whom I love, in whom I am and will be: receive me in peace into Your everlasting tabernacles, so that by my going out, there may be an entering in to You of many that are like me, and that they may rest in Your majesty.” And having so spoken, and yet glorifying the Lord even more, he gave up the spirit, while we all wept and lamented at our parting from him.
24. And after the death of the blessed Andrew, Maximilla together with Stratocles, caring nothing for them that stood by, drew near and herself freed his body; and when it was evening, she paid it the customary care and buried it [[near the seashore]]. And she continued separate from Aegeates because of his brutal soul and his wicked manner of life: and she led a reverential and quiet life, filled with the love of Christ, among the brothers. Aegeates still solicited [her] much and promised that she should have rule over his affairs; but being unable to persuade her, he arose in the dead of night, and unknown to them of his house, cast himself down from a great height and perished.
25. But Stratocles, who was his brother after the flesh, would not touch any of the things that were left of his possessions, for the wretched man died without offspring, but said: “Let your goods go with you, Aegeates. For of these things we have no need, for they are polluted; but as for me, let Christ be my friend and I His servant, and all my wealth I offer to Him in whom I have believed, and I pray that by worthily hearing of the blessed teaching of the apostle, I may appear a partaker with him in the ageless and unending kingdom.” And so, the uproar of the people ceased, and all were glad at the amazing, and untimely, and sudden fall of the impious and lawless Aegeates.