I hope Tim hasn't gone to bed yet...it is only 5:30 p.m. where I am, and I
happened to be editing a selection from Symmachus' History of the Patriarchs,
on the persecutions under Decius and the leadership of Dionysius, Patriarch of
Alexandria. In that time, a certain "old man named Metras was seized; and his
captors said to him 'Wilt thou worship the idols?' But he refused; and so they
inflicted upon him a painful beating, and wounded his face with styli. Then
they led him out of the city, and stoned him until he died." [sorry, no chicken
bones in evidence].
For the curious, this is from the Patrologia Orientalis Tome 1
Fascicule 2, trans B. Evetts (from the Arabic). (Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1948), p.
180. My publisher cannot locate copyrighters for this piece.
My translation of Eusebius concerning Metras says they attacked him
with pointed reeds.
So punsters, have at it. I still have hours of daylight and of work
ahead of me....
Karen Jolly
History
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
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