08 — Martyrdom
Around the year 165, under Marcus Aurelius, Justin was arrested at Rome with six companions, brought before the urban prefect Q. Junius Rusticus, examined, and — on his refusal to sacrifice to the gods — scourged and beheaded. The record of that examination, the Acts of Justin and his Companions, is one of the few authentic court records of an early martyrdom to survive, preserving the prefect’s questions and the martyrs’ answers in what appears to be substantially the official protocol. These files treat the trial and death, and the historical value of the Acts.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Justin sealed his teaching with his blood, and did so in the manner he had taught: not seeking death, but refusing to deny Christ when death was the price of confession. The Acts of Justin set down the dialogue of the tribunal — Rusticus pressing the prisoners to sacrifice, Justin confessing the faith and his confidence in the reward to come, the companions each declaring themselves Christians, the sentence of scourging and beheading. Because it derives, in its earliest form, from the official court protocol, the Acts is a historical source of rare quality among the martyr-literature, and a fitting close to the life of the philosopher who became a martyr. These two files divide the narrative of the trial from the assessment of the document.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Trial Before Rusticus | The arrest at Rome under Marcus Aurelius; the examination before the prefect Q. Junius Rusticus; Justin’s confession and the questioning of the six companions; the refusal to sacrifice; the sentence and the beheading, c. 165. |
| The Acts and Their Value | The Acts of Justin and his Companions as a historical source: its three recensions, its likely basis in the official court protocol, what it tells us and what it omits, and its place among the authentic Acts of the martyrs. |
See Also
- The School at Rome — the circle from which the martyrs came; Crescens
- Providence and the Martyrs — Justin’s own theology of martyrdom
- The First Christian Philosopher — the cult and feast of the martyr
- The Pre-Schism Church — the persecutions of the second century
References
- The Acts of Justin and his Companions (recensions A, B, C). In Herbert Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, pp. 42–61.
- Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History IV.16. Trans. NPNF II/1.
- Barnard, L. W. Justin Martyr: His Life and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967.