patristic · acts · c. 156 · Greek
The first martyr-act after the New Testament: the aged bishop refusing to curse Christ — 'eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong' — the flames arching like a sail, the church gathering his bones 'more precious than jewels.' The template for a whole literature that this dataset's martyrs inhabit.
To: the church of Philomelium, from the church of Smyrna