Tag: Eutychius

The memory of the Great Persecution, under Diocletian, persisted.  Unfortunately the details seem to have been entirely forgotten by Eutychius’ time, and been replaced by fiction.

1. Diocletian began to reign in the eleventh year of the reign of Sabur, son of Hurmuz, king of the Persians.  Together with Diocletian reigned Maximian called Ilkūriyūs (1).  They reigned over the Romans for twenty years.  They inflicted on the Christians great misfortunes and long affliction, painful suffering and great tribulations, too great, in truth, to be described.  They caused the Christians all kinds of evil by killing them and confiscating their property.  Only God knows how many Christians they put to death!  In their days there were thousands and thousands of martyrs (2).  They tortured St George in various ways and put him to death in Palestine.  Saint George (3) was a native of Cappadocia.  They also put to death St. Menna, Sts. Victor, Fikinitiyūs, Abimacus and Mercurius.  In the tenth year of their reign Peter was made Patriarch of Alexandria.  He held the office for ten years.  In the twentieth year of their reign this Peter was beheaded in Alexandria.  In the first year of their reign Eutychianus was made patriarch of Rome (4).  He held the office for eight years and died.  In the ninth year of their reign Gaius was made patriarch of Rome (5).  He held the office for twelve years and died.  In the tenth year of their reign Awriyus [=Tyrannus] was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for eleven years and died.  In the fifth year of their reign Māmūnis was made bishop of Jerusalem  (6).  He held the office for thirteen years and died.  In the eighteenth year of their reign Zabdas was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for ten years and died.

2. Peter, patriarch of Alexandria, had two disciples: one was called Ashīllà (7) and the other Alexander.  There also lived in Alexandria, a heretic named Arius who said:  “Only the Father is God, and the Son is a created being and made.  The Father has always been, but the Son was not”.  Then the patriarch Peter said to his two disciples: “Christ, [our] the Lord has cursed this Arius.  Beware, therefore, from accepting him or his doctrine.  In truth I have seen in a dream, while I was sleeping, Christ with his clothes torn and asked him: “Who has torn your clothes, my Lord?” And he answered me: ‘Arius’. Beware then of bringing him into the church with you.”  Five years after the murder of Peter, Patriarch of Alexandria, his disciple Asilla was made patriarch of Alexandria.  He held the office for six years and died.  Arius pleaded the cause of his friends before the patriarch Asilla, giving proof that he had repented of his perverse doctrine and his wickedness.  Asilla had then welcomed him and admitted in his church as  a consecrating priest.  Diocletian, meanwhile, was trying the Christians and putting them to death.

He was busy hunting them down when he came to a place called Dalmatia (8).  Here the vengeance of God fell upon him, and his body began to decompose and he was suffering from a horrible disease and such great wounds that of his flesh was filled with worms which fell to the ground.  Finally even his tongue and palate broke away and he died.  As for Maximian, called Herculeus, he also contracted a disease that burned his body to a crisp, and he died in Tarsus (9).  After them reigned Maxentius (10), son of Maximian.  Joining with him another Maximian called Galerius (11) reigned, for nine years.  This happened in the thirty-second year of the reign of Sabur, son of Hurmuz, Persian.  The two divided the kingdom between them: Maximian, called Galerius, reigned over the east, over Syria and the territory of Rum, while Maxentius ruled over the city of Rome and its territories.  Both acted towards the Christians like beasts and inflicted on them indescribable misfortunes and extermination like no other king before them had ever done.  Reigning with them over Byzantium and its territories was Constantius (12), father of Constantine.  He was a peaceful man, pious, a hater of idols and a lover of the Christians.  Constantius went into Mesopotamia and ar-Ruha (13).  Stopping in a village of the district of ar-Ruha, named Kafr-Fakhkhār, he happened to come across a handsome woman named Helena, who had received baptism at the hands of Barsiqā, bishop of ar-Ruha, and had learned to read the sacred books.  Constantius asked her father for her hand, and he gave her to him as his wife.  The woman became pregnant by him, and Constantius returned to Byzantium.  Helena gave birth to a son, fine-featured, gentle, intelligent, reluctant to do evil, and a lover of wisdom, named Constantine, who was educated in ar-Ruha and learned the wisdom of the Greeks (14).

3. Maximian, called Galerius, was a coarse, violent man, full of hatred against the Christians and their implacable enemy; a womanizer to the point that he wouldn’t allow any Christian girl to flee without arresting, raping and killing her.  And even as he and his men deflowered the Christian virgins, they took possession of the their property and killed them.  The Christians suffered at their hands enormous tribulations.  It happened that one day someone spoke to Maximian of Constantine and described him as a quiet young man, who kept away from evil and was well educated.  His astrologers even told him that he would become king of a great kingdom.  He therefore thought to kill him, but Constantine heard of it and fled from the city of ar-Ruha, taking refuge in Byzantium, where he came to his father, Constantius, who gave him the kingdom.  A little later Constantius, Constantine’s father, died and God caused the king Maximian serious disease to the point that his decomposing flesh fell into pieces and rolled on the ground so that no-one could stand to be nearby: even his enemies had compassion on him because of the misfortune that had struck him. He came to himself and said: “Maybe this is my punishment because I killed the Christians.”  Letters were sent to all his provinces, ordering the release of the Christians, to honour them, not hurt them, and asked them to raise prayers of intercession for the king.  The Christians prayed for the king and interceded for him.  God gave him healing and then he became more vigorous and healthier than he had been at first.  But being healed and recovered, he resolved to be more evil than usual and sent letters in all his provinces giving the order to put to death the Christians, to exterminate them to the last in his kingdom, not to allow them to live in any city and in any village and annihilate them wherever they were.  Countless Christians, men women and children, were killed.  And many were the dead that were loaded onto wagons and thrown in the sea or in the desert.

4. In the city of Cappadocia there were killed Sergius and Bacchus (15), both citizens of that city, and Saint Barbara.  In the second year of the reign of Maximian Brtāliyūs was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for six years and died.  In the third year of his reign Marcellus was made patriarch of Rome (16). He held the seat for two years and died.

Let’s continue using Google translate on the Italian translation of the Annals, with some smoothing and correcting, and see what Eutychius has to say.  This section again contains a chunk from the lost Sassanid Persian chronicle.

16. Ghallitīnūs Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him Claudius Caesar (61) reigned in Rome, for one year only.  This happened in the third year of the reign of Hurmuz, king of the Persians.  In the first year of the reign of Claudius Caesar, Paul was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for eight years and died.  He was called Paul of Samosata because he was from the city of Samosata and it was he who gave rise to the sect of the Paulicians.  The followers of his religion and the supporters of his doctrine were in fact called Paulicians from his name, i.e. Paul.  Paul of Samosata maintained that Christ, our Lord, was a man and was created by the Deity, just as each of us is, as to the substance, which is the principle of the Son of Mary, and that he was to be chosen to become the saviour of the human substance, was visited by divine grace that entered him by means of Love and Will, and was therefore called the Son of God.  He went further by saying that God is one substance and one person, and he did not believe in the Word or in the Holy Spirit.  After his death thirteen bishops gathered in the city of Antioch, examined the case and the doctrine, and after excommunicating him and the advocates of the doctrine, they returned each to his own home.

17. Claudius Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him Aurelian Caesar (62) reigned over the Romans, in Rome, for five years.  This happened in the fourth year of the reign of Hurmuz, son of Narsi, king of the Persians.  In the first year of the reign of Aurelian Caesar Dionysius was made Patriarch of Rome (63).  He held the office for eight years and died.  In the fourth year of his reign Neron was made patriarch of Alexandria.  He held the seat for nineteen years and died.  The Christians of Alexandria had been accustomed to pray in quarries and houses, secretly, for fear that the Romans might kill them, and the patriarch of Alexandria until then never appeared in public.  But as soon as Neron became patriarch, he began to be seen in public and always treated the Romans with so much grace that he obtained the right to construct a church in Alexandria in honor of the Lady Martmaryam.  In the fifth year of his reign [i.e. Aurelian Caesar], Hurmuz, son of Narsi, king of the Persians, died, without leaving a son to take his place.  But one of his wives was pregnant, and when the people asked: “Can you tell us if you bear a male or a female child?”  “I feel,” she said, “that the baby moves to the right, even though it does not weigh much.  So this is a sign that it will be a male child.”  Great was their joy, and they put the crown on the lap of the woman.  In fact, she gave birth to a male child, whose name was Sabur (64), and he is the one who was later nicknamed “Dhu’l-Aktāf” [i.e. “detaching from behind”] because every time he conquered a king, he dislocated his shoulder blades.  So the joy of the Persians was great, because of her.

18.  Aurelian Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him reigned Tacitus and Qūrinūs (65) for nine months and they were killed.  After them Marūnus Caesar (66) reigned over the Romans for six years.  This happened in the third year of the reign of Sabur, son of Hurmuz, king of the Persians.  In the third year of the reign of Marūnus, Felix was made patriarch of Rome (67).  He held the office for five years and died.  In the second year of his reign, Cyrillus was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the seat for fifteen years and died.

19.  Marūnus Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him Farus (68) Caesar reigned, along with his two sons Fan (69) and Nūmāziyānūs (70), for two years.  This happened in the ninth year of the reign of Sabur, son of Hurmuz.  He was cruel against the Christians, and it was he who put to death the two brother-martyrs Cosmas and Damian.

The king Farus died and his two sons were killed.  After him Diocletian Caesar (71) reigned over the Romans, in Rome.

20. From the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in the reign of Diocletian had passed two hundred and six years; from the birth of Christ, our Lord, to the king Diocletian had passed two hundred seventy-six years; from the reign of Alexander to the reign of Diocletian there passed five hundred ninety-five years; from the captivity of Babylon to the reign of Diocletian had passed eight hundred fifty-eight years; from David to the reign of Diocletian had passed thirteen hundred thirty-five years; from the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt to the reign of Diocletian had passed nineteen hundred forty-one years;  from Abraham to the reign of Diocletian had passed two thousand four hundred forty-eight years; from Faliq to Diocletian had passed two thousand nine hundred eighty-nine years; from the flood to Diocletian had passed three thousand five hundred twenty years; from Adam to Diocletian had passed five thousand seven hundred seventy-six years.

We continue reading the Arabic Christian Annals by Eutychius, Melkite patriarch of Alexandria.  The Sassanid kings, whose lost chronicle is used here, seem to have had a direct way with the Manichaeans.

9. Alexander Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him Maximinus Caesar (31) reigned over the Romans, in Rome, for three years.  This happened in the thirtieth year of the reign of Sahur, son of Azdashīr, king of the Persians.  This king Maximinus procured serious misfortunes and long affliction for the Christians.  Many Christians were killed and people began to worship idols that they thought were gods.  Many bishops were killed, and Babila, Patriarch of Antioch, was killed as well.  When Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, heard that Babila, Patriarch of Antioch, had been killed, he fled and abandoned the see.  In the second year of his reign Diyūs was made bishop of Jerusalem (32), instead of Narcissus.  He held the office for three years and died.  In the third year of his reign Fabianus was made patriarch of Rome (33).  He held the office for thirteen years and was killed.  In the second year of his reign Dionysius was made patriarch of Alexandria.  He was a Katib.  He held the office for seventeen years and died.  In the second year of his reign Sabur, son of Azdashīr, king of the Persians, died.  After him reigned Hurmuz, son of Sabur (34), i.e. Hurmuz al-Hurri, for one year and ten months and died.

10. In the third year of the reign of Maximinus Caesar Bahram, son of Hurmuz (35), reigned over the Persians.  He reigned for three years and three months.  In the third year of the reign of Bahram, king of the Persians, Maximinus Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him reigned Pupienus Caesar (36), called Julianus Caesar, for three months and was killed.  After him Gordian Caesar (37) reigned over the Romans, in Rome, for four years.  In the first year of his reign Flavian was made patriarch of Antioch (38).  He held the office for eleven years and died.  In the second year of his reign Germanus was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for four years and died.  In the third year of his reign Bahram, son of Hurmuz, king of the Persians, died.

11. After him Bahram, son of Bahram (39), reigned over the Persians for seventeen years.  In his day appeared a Persian named Mani (40), who spread the Manichaean religion by going around claiming to be a prophet.  Bahram, son of Bahram, arrested him and cut him in two.  He then captured two hundred of his disciples and followers, and he put them in the ground up to neck until they died, saying:  “I set up a vegetable garden, and instead of planting trees I planted men” (41).  His followers and supporters of his doctrine were called Manichaeans, after Mani’s name.

12. In the third year of the reign of Bahram, son of Bahram, Gordian Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him Philip Caesar (42) reigned over the Romans, in Rome, for seven years.  He embraced the faith in Christ, our Lord.  In the first year of his reign Gordian was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for five years and died.  In the fourth year of his reign Narcissus (43), the Bishop of Jerusalem that had escaped, came back, and together with Gordian administered the bishopric for a year.  Then Gordian, Bishop of Jerusalem, died and Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, held the seat for [another] ten years until he died, at the age of one hundred and sixteen years.  As for the King Philip Caesar, his general named Decius revolted and killed him and took possession of the kingdom.

13. Decius Caesar (44) reigned over the Romans in Rome for two years.  This was in the tenth year of the reign of Bahram, son of Bahram, king of the Persians.  The Christians suffered many hardships and grave evils at the hands of Decius who killed an incalculable number.  Many people were martyred in his day, including Fabianus (45), patriarch of Rome.  Then Decius left the city of Carthage (46) and traveled to Ephesus where he built, at the center of the city, a large temple in which he placed the idols, ordering the population to worship them and offer sacrifices.  Those who refused would be killed.  For this reason he put to death many Christians, crucifying them on the walls of Ephesus.  Decius then took seven young men from among the families of some magnates of Ephesus and entrusted to them the care of his clothing.  The names of these young men were: Maximian, Amlicus, Dianus, Martinus, Dionysius, Antoninus and John.  And since these seven young men were not accustomed to bow down before idols, the spies of the king made him aware of this.  The king went into a rage and ordered them thrown into jail.  Then having to go away for an expedition, he set them free with the intention to defer to his return the decision on their fate.  When the king left the city, the young men took all they had and gave it away for charity.  Then they went up onto a high mountain, called Khāws (47), to the east of Ephesus.  There was on that mountain a large cave, and they hid themselves.  Each day, one of them in turn left that place and went into town to hear what people said of them, to buy food and to inform the others when he returned.  The king Decius returned and asked for news of the young men.  They told him that they were on the mountain, in the cave.  He ordered that the entry should be blocked so that they should die.  But God caused a deep sleep to descend on the seven youths and they fell asleep so that they almost seemed dead.  A general of the King picked up a sheet of lead and wrote on it their history and what there was between them and the king Decius.  Then he put the plate of lead in a copper box, and he left it inside the cave when the entry was blocked.

14. The king Decius died.  After him two kings reigned in Rome, over the Romans: Ghalliyūs Caesar and Yūliyānūs  Caesar (48) for two years.  This was in the twelfth year of the reign of Bahram, son of Bahram, king of the Persians.  In the first year of their reign Cornelius was made patriarch of Rome (49). He held the see for two years and died.  In that same year Demetrianus was made patriarch of Antioch. He held the office for eight years and died.

15. The king Yūliyānūs died and eighteen days afterwards the king Ghalliyūs, his partner, was killed.  After them reigned over the Romans Ghalititūs Caesar, called Alāriyānūs Caesar (50), for fifteen years.  This happened in the fourteenth year of the reign of Bahram, son of Bahram, king of the Persians.  In the first year of his reign Maximus was made patriarch of Alexandria.  He held the office for eighteen years and died.  In the same year Lucius was made patriarch of Rome (51).  He held the office for eight months and died.  After him Ustātiyūs was made patriarch of Rome (52). He held the office for six years and died.  In the eighth year of his reign Sixtus was made patriarch of Rome (53).  He held the seat for nine years and died.  In that same year Domnus was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for three years and died.  In the twelfth year of his reign Timothy was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for three years and died.  In the fifth year of his reign Alexander was made bishop of Jerusalem (54).  He had held the seat for seven years when this king had him killed in the city of Caesarea in the eleventh year of his reign.  In the fourteenth year of his reign Marzābān was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the seat for twenty-one years and died.  In the seventh year of the reign of Ghalinītūs Caesar the martyr Cyprian was killed in a village named Arshaginnah (55).  ‘Alitinūs Caesar was very cruel towards Christians and procured them many evils.  His son (56) went out to war against the Persians, but they took him prisoner and brought him to Bahram, son of Bahram, king of the Persians, who had him beheaded.  When Ghallitinūs Caesar learned that Bahram, son of Bahram, king of the Persians, had beheaded his son, he felt great pain and desisted from doing harm to the Christians.  In the fifth year of his reign died Bahram, son of Bahram, king of the Persians (57).  After him reigned Bahram, who is also the son of Bahram, called Shashan Shah (58), for four months and died.  After him reigned his brother Narsi (59), son of Bahram, son of Sabur, son of Azdashir, son of Babak, son of Shashan.  He reigned over the Persians for nine years and died.  In the fourteenth year of his reign, i.e. the reign of Ghallitinūs Caesar, Hurmuz, son of Narsi (60), reigned over the Persians for seven years and five months and died.

Eutychius is obscure, so perhaps a reminder is in order.  It is often forgotten that the lands conquered by the Arabs contained large populations which did not instantly turn into Arabs, or into Moslems.  This text, the “Annals” is by the Melkite patriarch of Alexandria in the 10th century, Eutychius, also known as Sa`id ibn Bitriq.  Compiled from older chronicles going back to Eusebius of Caesarea, this is the first of the Arabic Christian histories.  It’s interesting to see what a man at that date knew about the past.

Chapter 10.

1. In the tenth year of his reign the Persians appeared, who conquered Babil, Amid (1) and Persis.  Their king was Azdashir, son of Tabak, son of Shashan (2), a native of Istakhr (3), who was the first king to reign once again over Persia.  He sent letters to all the kings of Persia near him, and to the rulers of distant lands, asking them to recognize him as their king and give him their support, warning those, who dared oppose him, with threats of death and punishment.  When the edicts and letters came to these kings, great was their fear.  Some hastened to promise obedience and to assure him of their support; others waited until he went personally to them: then he made them pay obedience and submit themselves, some by love and some by force; others, however, refused to do what he had commanded them, and they were killed and destroyed.  To those who had immediately given him obedience, he rewarded them with magnanimity and elevated their position, denying, however, to everyone the title of king, because only he, and no other, could reign.  He moved continuously from one kingdom to another, from one king to another and from one country to another, until he came into the city of Zahl (4), which is in front of Maskin (5), also known as al-Hisn, within which was the King of as-Sawad (6). Azdashir besieged it long, without being able to take it.  Then out of the citadel, to watch the soldiers of Azdashir, came the daughter of the king — I mean the King of as-Sawad.  Seeing Azdashir, she was taken with the attractiveness of this man, and she fell in love.  Therefore she took an arrow and wrote on it:  “If you promise to marry me, I will show you a place from where you will be able to conquer this city.”  Then she shot the arrow in the direction of Azdashir. He found that he liked what she had written. He wrote this reply on the arrow: “I promise that I will do what you asked me,” and shot it in the direction of women.  When she had read it, she wrote: “This city has a small gate, built of unbaked bricks, in this place,” and described him the place.  Azdashir immediately sent some of his men to that place, while he kept the others engaged on another front, and he was able in this way to go through that place without the knowledge of the inhabitants of the city.  So he killed the king and had the better of all those who were in the city.  Afterwards Azdashir married the daughter of the king, as he had promised.  But one night. while he slept in his bed, [the woman] arose, and went out all night.  Looking around, on the next day, Azdashir saw, under the outer garment of the woman, on the bed, an olive leaf that had left its mark on her skin.  Azdashir asked her then with what her father nourished her, and she replied:  “Mostly on the cream of milk, honey and marrow.”  Azdashir said: “I do not know if anyone can give you as much love and honour as your father gave you. Yet you repaid him, contrary to what you should have rather done, with death.  You are not worthy of being in the world.  And I will avenge him.  If love blinded you, and took away your mind enough to make you forget your duty to your father, I am afraid that you will do the same thing to me also”.  So saying, he ordered them to tie her hair to the tail of a big horse and let him run.  This was done as [the king] ordered, and she was torn apart (7).

2. Commodus Caesar, king of the Romans, died.  After him reigned Bartinfqūs (8), king of the Romans, for three months and was killed.  After him reigned over the Romans Julianus Caesar (9) for two months and was killed.  After him reigned over the Romans, in Rome, Severus Caesar (10) for seventeen years.  This happened in the fourth year of the reign of Azdashir, son of Tabak.  This king Severus was wicked and procured for the Christians great misfortunes and much affliction.  In his day, many Christians found martyrdom everywhere.  Then he went to Egypt and had killed all the Christians who were in Egypt and Alexandria, destroying the churches.  At Alexandria he built a temple and called it the “Temple of the Gods”.  In the fourteenth year of his reign Callixtus was made patriarch of Rome (11).  He held the office for six years and died.  In the third year of his reign Asclepiades was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for nine years and died.  In the twelfth year of his reign Philetus was made patriarch of Antioch.  He led the office for thirteen years and died.  In the first year of his reign Capito was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for four years and died.  In the sixth year of his reign Maximus was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for four years and died.  In the tenth year of his reign Antoninus was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for five years and died.

3. As for Azdashir, son of Tabak, king of the Persians, he attempted to administer his people as justly as possible.  He founded six cities, namely the city of Gawr (12) and the city of Azdashirākhurrah (13), both in Persia; [the city of] Bahman-Azdashir (14), i.e. Furat al-Basrah, [the city of] Astādābād (15), i.e. Baysan Karkh in the district between the Tigris, the town of Souq al-Ahwaz (16) and one of the three cities that are in as-Sawad.  He rebuilt three cities, one of which is al-Khatt (17) to the west of the transfluvial region, the second is Bahārsamir near Karman, and the other is the city of al-Aylah (18).

4. Having reigned for fourteen years and six months Azdashir died.  There reigned after him his son Sabur, son of Azdashir (19), for thirty years and one month.  This was in the twelfth year of the reign of Severus Caesar, King of the Romans.  Severus Caesar died and reigned in Rome, after him, Antoninus Caesar Caracalla, the Bald (20), for six years.  In the third year of his reign  Uryānūs was made patriarch of Rome (21).  He held the office for four years and died.  In the first year of his reign Valens was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for three years and died.  In the fifth year of his reign Dulichianus was made bishop of Jerusalem (22).  He held the office for four years and died.

15. At that time the Jews returned to Jerusalem.  They then became so numerous that they filled the city, they decided to give themselves a king.  Hearing about this, Trajan Caesar sent one of his generals to Jerusalem at the head of a large army (41).  Countless Jews were killed in that way.  Now it happened that at Babylon a rebel rose up against this king Trajan.  The king Trajan marched against him, and between the two there was a violent combat.  Many men fell on both sides in that war, and the king Trajan was killed (42).

16. After him reigned Aelius Hadrian Caesar for twenty years (43).  He waged war on the rebel of Babylon and defeated him.  He then passed into Egypt; he subjected the population to severe hardships, forcing people to worship idols and for this reason he put to death many Christians, including Eustathius, his wife and their two children: he dropped them in a copper kettle, poured water on them, lit a fire under the boiler and made them die groaning in agony (44). The king Aelius Hadrian Caesar was hit by a horrible disease that spread throughout the body, and he began to go from one country to another in search of some medicine able to heal his body and cure his disease.  Finally it was suggested that he go to Jerusalem.  But having arrived there, and found that the city was all a mass of ruins and that there was nothing but the church of Christians, he ordered that a city be built around the temple, and furnished with a strong tower.  Having heard this, the Jews flocked from every country and city.  In a short time the city was full, and they were many, and gave themselves a king named Barğūziyā (45).  The king Aelius Hadrian, being made aware of the fact, sent one of his generals at the head of many men who besieged the city.  All those who were there died of hunger and thirst.  Then he conquered it, killed many Jews and destroyed the city, leaving it empty (46).

This was the final destruction of Jerusalem.  Some of the Jews fled to Egypt, others in Syria, others to the mountains and others to Ghor.  The king ordered that no Jew should live in the city.  He ordered to kill the Jews and annihilate the race.  He then ordered that the city should be inhabited by Greeks and called Aelia (47), from the name of the king.  After that, in fact, Jerusalem was called the city of Aelius.  The Greeks lived there and built a tower at the door of the temple called “The Splendour”.  On it they put a large tablet on which was written the name of King Aelius.  The tower, today, is the one that is close to the gate of the city of Jerusalem called “Mihrāb Dāwud” (48).

17. From the previous destruction by Titus, to this one, fifty-three years had passed.  Soon Jerusalem was populated by Greeks.  But seeing that Christians used to go to pray to the place of garbage, under which the Holy Sepulchre was found, and the place called The Skull, the Greeks prevented this and built on that place of garbage a temple dedicated to Venus; this was so that no Christian could go any more close to the unclean place (49).  In the sixth year of the reign of Hadrian, Hyginus was made patriarch of Rome (50).  He held the office for four years and died.  In the tenth year of his reign Marcus was made patriarch of Rome (51).  He held the office for fifteen years and died.  In the ninth year of his reign Cornelius was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for sixteen years and died.  In the second year of his reign Eumenes was made patriarch of Alexandria.  He held the office for twelve years and died.  In the fourteenth year of his reign Marcian was made patriarch of Alexandria.  He held the office for ten years and died.  In the fourth year of his reign Tobias was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for three years and died.  In the seventh year of his reign Benjamin was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for three years and died.  In the tenth year of his reign John was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the seat for two years and died.  In the thirteenth year of his reign Matateus [or Mattias] was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for two years and died.  In the fifteenth year of his reign Philip was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for two years and died.  In the seventeenth year of his reign Seneca was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for only one year and died.  In the eighteenth year of his reign Justus was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for five years and died.

18. The king Aelius died, and after him reigned in Rome Antoninus Caesar for twenty-two years (53).  In the fifth year of his reign Anicetus was made patriarch of Rome (54). He held the office for eleven years and died.  In the sixteenth year of his reign Soterus was made patriarch of Rome (55).  He held the office for eight years and died.  In the fourth year of his reign Celadio was made patriarch of Alexandria (56).  He held the office for eleven years and died.  In the fifteenth year of his reign Agrippinus was made patriarch of Alexandria (57).  He held the office for twelve years and died.  In the third year of his reign Arus was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for thirteen years and died.  In the sixteenth year of his reign Theophilus was made Patriarch of Antioch. He held the office for twenty-one years and died.  In the first year of his reign Levi was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for five years and died.  In the sixth year of his reign Ephrem was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the seat for two years and died.  In the eighth year of his reign Arsenius was made bishop of Jerusalem (58).  He held the office for three years and died.  In the eleventh year of his reign Judah was made bishop of Jerusalem. He held the office for two years and died.

From James, first bishop of Jerusalem, to this Judah, Bishop of Jerusalem, the bishops who had succeeded to the See of Jerusalem were of the circumcision (59).  In the thirteenth year of the reign of Antoninus Marcus was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for eight years and died.  In the twenty-first year of his reign Cassianus was made bishop of Jerusalem. He held the office for five years and died.

19. Antoninus Caesar died.  After him reigned Marcus, called Aurelius Caesar and also called Antoninus swrs (60).  He reigned for nineteen years and died.  He procured for the Christians great misfortunes and long affliction.  Many Christians found martyrdom in his day.  There was, in his day, severe famine, drought and pestilence.  For two years no rain fell and the king and the people of his kingdom were about to die by famine and pestilence.  Therefore he asked the Christians to invoke their Lord so there would be rain.  The Christians then lifted up imploring voices to their Lord: God made a lot of water rain on them, and the pestilence and drought disappeared (61).

20. At the time of this king the sage Meghitiyūs lived in Greece  (62). In the second year of his reign Eleuterius was made patriarch of Rome (63).  He held the seat for fifteen years and died.  In the seventeenth year of his reign Victor was made patriarch of Rome (64).  He held the office for ten years and died.  In the fifth year of his reign Julian was made patriarch of Alexandria (65).  He held the office for ten years and died.  In the fifteenth year of his reign Demetrius was made patriarch of Alexandria (66).  He held the office for forty years and died.  He was the first patriarch to ordain bishops in the province of Egypt.  In the fifteenth year of his reign Maximus was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the seat for nine years and died.  In the fourth year of his reign Eusebius was made bishop of Jerusalem (67).  He held the seat for two years and died.  In the sixth year of his reign Būliyūs was made patriarch (sic!) of Jerusalem (68).  He held the office for five years and died.  In the eleventh year of his reign Maximus was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for four years and died.  In the fifteenth year of his reign Julian was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the seat for two years and died.  In the seventeenth year of his reign Gaius was made bishop of Jerusalem (69).  He held the office for three years and died.

21. At that time Demetrius, patriarch of Alexandria, wrote to Gaius, bishop of Jerusalem, Maximus, Patriarch of Antioch and Victor, Patriarch of Rome, on the calculation of Easter for the Christians, and on their times of fasting, as well as how to calculate the time starting from the passover of the Jews.  He drew up in this regard many writings and letters which established that the Christian Easter is celebrated according to the practice still in use today.  This is because the Christians were accustomed, after the ascension into heaven of Christ, our Lord, to celebrate the feast of his Baptism (70) starting from that day to fast for forty days, after which they broke the fast precisely as Christ our Lord had done.  For Christ, our Lord, having received baptism in the Jordan, retired to the desert and stayed there, fasting, for the period of forty days.  The Christians were accustomed thus to celebrate their Easter in the same period in which fell that of the Jews [the passover].  Those patriarchs settled thus the calculation of Easter, so that the Christians fasted for forty days and broke the fast on Easter Day (71).

22. The king Marcus [Aurelius] Caesar died.  After him there reigned at Rome Commodus Caesar (72), son of Antoninus, for twelve years.  In his time there lived in Greece, in the city of Pergamum, the physician Galen, initiator of the medical art.  Among other things Galen records, in the index of his own books, that he was the tutor of king Commodus.  And likewise Galen tells us, in the first treatise of [his] book known under the title of Kitāb Akhlāq an-Nafs (73), that there was in the days of King Commodus a man named Perennis (74) whom the king Commodus sent to call to him, intending to kill him.  But [Perennis] fled.  [This Perennis] had two servants, and the king had them flogged to make them show him where their master could be found.  But from nobility of mind, and wanting at all costs to save the life of their master, they preferred to remain silent.  From Alexander to Perennis five hundred and sixteen years had passed, since this incident is located in the ninth year of the reign of Commodus Caesar.  So says Galen.  In his day, the sage Dīmuqrātis flourished.  In the eighth year of his reign Fūritūs was made patriarch of Rome (75).  He held the seat for eighteen years and died.  In the fifth year of his reign Serapion was made patriarch of Antioch.  He held the office for ten years and died.  In the first year of his reign Symmachus was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for two years and died.  In the third year of his reign Gaius was made bishop of Jerusalem (76).  He held the office for three years and died.  In the sixth year of his reign Julian was made bishop of Jerusalem.  He held the office for four years and died.  In the eleventh year of his reign Elias was made bishop of Jerusalem (77). He held the seat for two years and died.

Let’s continue with chapter 9 of this Arabic Christian work:

5. As for those who wonder why the patriarch of Alexandria is called “Bābā”, we answer: “Bābā” means “grandfather”.  But from the time when Ananias was made patriarch of Alexandria by the Evangelist Mark to the time of Demetrius, patriarch of Alexandria, who was the eleventh patriarch [of that place], there was never, in the province of Egypt, a bishop and the patriarchs who preceded him had never consecrated bishops.  But when he became patriarch, Demetrius consecrated three bishops and it was he, in truth, who was the first patriarch of Alexandria to consecrate bishops.  At his death there was made patriarch of Alexandria Heraclas, who consecrated twenty bishops.  One of these bishops, named Eumenius, transgressed the law, and the news came to the patriarch Heraclas who immediately convened a group of bishops, went to the city [where was] Eumenius, and made some inquiries about him; and he pondered the case thoroughly and worked out the truth.  It was then that, hearing the people call the bishops “Ab” [or “father”], the patriarch thought: “If we call the bishop “Ab” and the bishops themselves call the patriarch “Ab”, then we call the patriarch “Bābā”, or “grandfather”, for he is the father of fathers.”  The Patriarch of Alexandria was so called, from the time of Heraclas, “Bābā”, or “grandfather”.  Ananias, patriarch of Alexandria, whom the evangelist Mark had made the patriarch of that time,  remained in office for twenty-two years and died.  The evangelist Mark went to Barqah (8), exhorting the people to embrace the faith in Christ, Son of God.

6. Claudius Caesar died, and there reigned after him, in Rome, his son Nero Caesar for thirteen years. He was the first to procure serious evils and misfortunes for the Christians.  He was an extremely bad man and of wicked habits.  At the time of Nero Caesar, Peter, chief of the Apostles, wrote in the city of Rome the Gospel of Mark, at the hands of the latter, in Latin, and attributed it to Mark.

It was also at the time of this king that Luke wrote his gospel in Greek for a Roman nobleman named Theophilus and it was also he who wrote the “Praxis”, i.e. “The Acts of the Apostles” (9).  The evangelist Luke was the companion of the Apostle Paul, and remained with him for a long time. We know this because the apostle Paul says in his letter: “The doctor Luke greets you” (10).  Nero Caesar took Peter, crucified him with his head down, and had him put to death, because Peter had asked him: “If you want to crucify me, crucify me with my head down, because my death is not the same as that of Christ, my Lord, who was crucified in the upright position” (11).  Then [Nero] beheaded Paul.  Peter was put to deathtwenty-two years after Christ, our Lord, was put to death.  After Peter, Linus was made patriarch of Rome(12).  He held the office for twelve years and died. He was the first to be made patriarch of Rome.  The evangelist Mark preached to the people the faith in Christ, Son of God, in Alexandria and Barqah for seven years.  In the first year of the reign of the aforementioned Nero Caesar, Mark was put to death in Alexandria, and his body was set on fire (13).  In the twelfth year of the reign of Nero Caesar Ignatius was made Patriarch of Antioch.  He held the seat for thirty-two and was put to death.

7. Qistus, governor of Jerusalem, died and the city was without any authority or sovereign to govern it.  The Jews then arose and rioted and killed James, son of Joseph, known as the “brother of the Lord”, stoning him to death (14).  Then they harassed a group of disciples and expelled them from the city.  The Christians abandoned Jerusalem, crossed the Jordan and settled in those places (15).  Informed of this fact, Nero Caesar sent word to the commander stationed in the East, named Vespasian, to rally his troops and go to Judea with orders to kill all the inhabitants, sparing none, and to destroy the houses.  Having heard these things, the Jews gathered together and those who among them were wealthy offered their goods to build three citadels around the city.  They equipped them with towers, fortified them, and castellated them. Vespasian arrived in Judea after spreading destruction in every town of Galilee and burning it.  But against Jerusalem he could not do anything, because it was well fortified and strengthened.  He spent a year besieging it.  The Jews made nocturnal sorties, in secret, and spread death among the Roman soldiers.

Let’s continue looking at how the 10th century Melkite patriarch of Alexandria saw the events of the 1st century AD, by giving a translation of the start of chapter 9 of the Annals:

1.  Pilate wrote to king Tiberius speaking of Christ, our Lord, and of his disciples and of the many miracles that they did, of how the sick were healed and the dead raised.  He wanted to believe in Christ, our Lord, and to profess the religion of the Christians, but his advisors dissuaded him from doing such a thing.  He was then enraged against Herod, because he killed John on account of Herodias, his brother’s wife, whom he had taken by force and committed adultery with her,  and for allowing the messiah to be crucified for his convenience.  Tiberius sent word to Herod to appear in Rome, and exiled him to Spain, entrusting the government of his province to Pilate.  The city of Tiberias, which was simply called Tībāriyādah (1), after the name of king Tiberias, was founded in the time of this king.

2. Tiberius Caesar died after a reign of twenty-two years and one month.  After him reigned Gaius Caesar for four years and three months (2).  He was a unmanly man, arrogant and extremely perverted.  He recalled Pilate to Rome and had him killed.  The Jews rose up so to be more wicked than they had been at first.  The Romans attacked them, but [the Jews] made great slaughter of them.  Having received news of this, king Gaius Caesar took one of his men, named Yirūdus, son of Aristobulus, also called Aghriyān (3), and entrusted to him the government of Jerusalem.  He also entrusted him with the government of the four provinces which the sons of Herod, son of Antipater had divided among themselves.  This Aghriyān was of evil conduct, extremely malicious and a relentless persecutor of the disciples.  It was he who had Stephen killed, the first martyr and archdeacon, who was stoned to death. James the brother of John, son of Zebedee was also killed with the sword.  He then put Peter in prison with the intent to kill him, but God came to his rescue, saved him from his hands, and took him far away from him to Antioch.

Arcadius was made patriarch of Antioch, and he held the seat for twenty-seven years (4).  He was the first to be made patriarch of the city of Antioch.  In the second year of the reign of Gaius Caesar, Peter went to Rome.  Aghriyān was stricken with a serious disease, his flesh consumed him and his body was dehydrated until he died.  When the king heard that Gaius Aghriyān had died, he appointed in his place another man, also named Aghriyān (5), and sent him to Jerusalem.  In the second year of his reign there was made bishop of Jerusalem James, son of Joseph, called “brother of our Lord,” who was the first of the bishops who then followed in Jerusalem.  He held the seat for twenty-eight years. The disciples suffered great tribulations at the hands of the Jews and the Romans, and many of them were killed.

3. Gaius Caesar died, and after him reigned in Rome Claudius Caesar for fourteen years.  In his time there was a severe famine throughout the land and many people died from the great famine and pestilence.  In the times of Claudius Caesar, Matthew wrote his gospel in Hebrew in Jerusalem, which the evangelist John then expounded in Greek.  The Jews had meanwhile become much more wicked than they had been at first, to the point that they were killing each other in the markets and in the streets because of the evil and corruption which had come over them.  Aghriyān fled far far away from them and fled to Rome, leaving as governor in Jerusalem a man named Qistus (6).  Upon arriving in Rome, Aghriyān informed Claudius Caesar of the evil that the Jews were doing.  Claudius Caesar then sent a large army to Jerusalem.  Many Jews, men, women and children, were killed and [many] were deported to Antioch or Rome.

4. In the ninth year of the reign of Claudius Caesar, the evangelist Mark was in the city of Alexandria, preaching to the people the faith in Christ, our Lord.  But as Mark was walking through the city of Alexandria he ripped, suddenly, a strip of leather from his sandal.  So he stopped at a shoemaker, named Ananias, so that he could repair the sandal.  Ananias took an awl to perforate the sandal, and in so doing wounded his finger, which began to issue a lot of blood with a throbbing pain.  He asked Mark to heal him, but Mark said:  “If you believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God, your finger will heal.”  Mark then took the finger of Ananias and said: “In the name of Jesus Christ, may your finger be healed!”  The finger healed instantly and the blood ceased to flow.  At the same time, Ananias believed in Christ, and Mark baptized him and made him patriarch of Alexandria.  He was the first to be made patriarch of Alexandria (7).  The evangelist Mark appointed, together with the patriarch Ananias, twelve other priests who joined with him [in his ministry] and on the death of the patriarch could nominate, in his place, one of the twelve, the other eleven placing their hands on his head and blessed him and consecrating him patriarch.  Their task was then to choose a man of proven virtue and ordain him priest with them, to replace the one that had been made patriarch, because they were always twelve in number.  The twelve priests of Alexandria continued to elect the patriarch, by following this rule, from among the twelve priests, until the time of Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria, who was one of the Three Hundred and Eighteen.  In fact he forbade the priests to elect the patriarch, and also ordered that on the death of the patriarch the bishops should gather and elect the Patriarch.  He ordered that on the death of the patriarch, there should be elected a man of proven virtue, no matter from what country, or one of the twelve priests, or another that had been found worthy, and that he should be consecrated as patriarch.  In this way the old rule of electing the patriarch from the priests was interrupted, and the election went to the bishops.

(Continuing our translation from the Italian, itself a very scarce book):

6.  From the time when the star appeared to the Magi, to the time when they knelt before Christ, our Lord, and then returned to their country, was two years.  It was told in a dream to Joseph, Mary’s husband, to take the child and his mother and escape into Egypt.  Joseph did as he was told.  Herod saw that the Magi were slow to return to him, and decided that they were mocking him.  So he fell into a rage and ordered that all the boys in Bethlehem aged two years and under should be killed.  So they slew all the children without sparing even one.  But God poured out his anger and struck Herod with a grave illness.  The pain did not leave him until he died, having reigned thirty-seven years.  He left four children.  The first was called Arshīlāwus, the second Hīrūdus, the third Fīlippus and the fourth Usāniyūs (17).   They divided the kingdom between them, and each took a quarter of Judaea.  Bethlehem and Bayt al-Maqdis belonged to Archelaus.

When Joseph heard that Herod was dead, he left Egypt, together with Christ, our Lord, and his mother.  Christ, our Lord, was four years old.  Joseph was afraid to dwell in Bethlehem because of Archelaus, and went to live in Nazareth (18).  So Christ was called a Nazarene.  In the eighth year of Archelaus, Christ, our Lord, was twelve years old, and sat in the temple among the doctors [of the law] and learned and taught.

7.  Joseph, who raised the messiah, died (19).  Archelaus also died, after a reign of nine years, leaving no-one to inherit the kingdom.  Caesar Augustus also died, having reigned fifty-six years and six months.  After him reigned over Rome his son Tiberius Caesar.  Christ, our Lord, was then fifteen.  The king Tiberius had a friend named Pilate, a native of an island in the sea near Rome.  This island was called Buntah, so he was called Bīlātus al-Buntī (20).  [Tiberius] entrusted him with the government of Judaea in place of Archelaus.  In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar appeared John the son of Zechariah, called the Baptist, who baptised the Jews in the Jordan for the forgiveness of their sins.  Christ, our Lord, presented himself to John and John baptised him in the Jordan.  Christ, our Lord, was then thirty.  Herod, son of Herod, son of Antipater, had put aside his wife, named Aritā (22), daughter of the king of the Arabs (in another text it says “the Ghawr”), and took the wife of his brother Philip instead, even during his lifetime, by force.  The woman’s name was Herodias.  But John said, “It is not lawful to take your brother’s wife while he is still alive.” (22)  So he commanded him to be  thrown in jail.  Then it happened that Herod gave a banquet for his friends, where they ate and drank.  The daughter of Herodias danced in the middle of the room.  He liked it a lot and said, “Ask of me whatever you like.” (23)  And she asked him to give her on a platter the head of John the Baptist.  So he ordered John to be beheaded and handed her his head.  As for his wife Aritā, she went to her father.  He was angry, gathered his men, and went out against Herod who fought back, killing many men and making many others prisoner and burning their villages.  This happened in the eighteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.

8.  In the twenty-ninth year of the reign of Herod, son of Herod, son of Antipater, Christ, our Lord, was crucified.  This was on Friday, March 23, i.e. 27 Baramhāt.  Christ, our Lord, was celebrating the passover with his disciples on the Friday night, the day of Easter.  One of his disciples, named Judas Iscariot, went to the Jews and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” (24) They gave him thirty dirhams.  He then went with them in the night to the place where [Christ] was with his disciples.  They took him, and carried him to the priests Annas and Caiaphas, their leaders, who disputed with him.  The next day they handed him over to the governor, Pontius Pilate.  But Pilate found no charge against him, and said to them, “You say that this man is the king of the Jews.”  They answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”  He replied, “What shall I do with him?”  They told him, “Crucify him, because he has profaned our religion, has dissolved our law, and proclaimed himself son of God.” (25)  Pilate was saddened and washed his hands with water, declaring himself innocent of his blood.  But the Jews invoked his blood on them and their children.  Then [Pilate] ordered him to be crucified, and crucified with him were two robbers, one on his right and one on his left, at the sixth hour of Friday.  There was a great darkness, or night, all over the earth.  The sun was darkened and the stars appeared and the rocks were opened and many of the dead rose from their graves.  Christ, our Lord, died on the cross; they opened his side with a spear and blood and water gushed out.

9.  After his death, a man named Joseph went to Pilate and asked for his body.  He was taken down from the cross, wrapped in a shroud, and buried in a new tomb that Joseph had had dug for himself, and he blocked the door with a stone boulder.  The next day the Jews stood before Pilate and said, “We have good reason to fear that his disciples may come at night and take him away and tell people that he is risen.  Would you order that the stone at the entrance to the sepulchre be sealed.”  But Pilate replied, “Go and do whatever you like.” (26)  So they got some guards and placed them to guard the tomb, then they sealed the stone and left.  At midnight on Sunday some women came, bringing spices and incense to fumigate the tomb.  They found before them an angel descended from heaven, who had rolled the stone away from the entrance of the tomb, and was sitting on it.  [The angel] said to them, “Fear not; he is risen.  Tell his disciples to go to Galillee, for there they will meet him.” (27)  The women came to the disciples and told them what they had heard from the angel.  The guards who were responsible for monitoring the tomb fell into a deep sleep, like that of the dead, when they saw the angel and what he had done.  Then they arose and told the Jews what had happened.  [The Jews] tried to bribe them, saying, “Tell anyone who asks, ‘His disciples took him away.'” (28)  As for the disciples, they went to Galillee, and there they met Christ, our Lord.  He blessed them, and sent them into all the world, to preach to the nations faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

10.  Forty days later, he ascended into heaven.  He was thirty-three.  Ten days later, while the disciples were gathered in the upper room of Zion (29), the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in every language.  The disciples used to go every day to the tomb and the place of crucifixion.  When the Jews say what the disciples did, they said, “This place will not stay hidden [long] and they will certainly erect a building.  Cover it with earth, so that nobody can see it and not a trace remains.  If the people can actually see the empty tomb, they will believe and embrace the faith [of the disciples], making vain our religion.” (30) So they covered the  place with earth and turned it into a garbage dump.

(A few of the notes may be useful:)

17.  Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Philip are the first three; is Lysanias perhaps the fourth?
20.  Pilate belonged to the gens of the Pontii.  Ponza is an island in the Tyrrhennian sea.
21.   Aretas was the father’s name, in fact; in this case it means the Nabatean king Aretas IV.