of death before all the people. Then to him the blessed man Apollo made answer, and he said unto him, “O man, may God have mercy upon thee, and may the sin which hath been uttered by thee not be accounted unto thee as anything.”
Now when the man who was a singer, whose name was Philemon, had heard these things, he repented at the words of the blessed man, because he had gone into the place where he was, and caused him pain, and he went down immediately, and stood up before the throne of the judge, and in the presence of all the people said unto him, “O judge, thou art acting wickedly in tormenting the servants of God without a cause, for the Christians neither say nor do wicked things, on the contrary, they even bless their enemies.” Now when the judge heard the things which Philemon was saying, he thought at first that he had gone mad through his pride, and that having gone mad he had spoken; but as soon as the judge perceived that he persisted in his words, he answered and said unto him, “Thou art mad, O man, and hast suddenly become a fool.” And Philemon made answer to him and said, “I have not gone mad, O thou wicked judge, but I am a Christian, and I fear the God of heaven.” And the judge and all the people wished to persuade him [to be quiet] by means of flattering speeches, but, when they saw that he would not yield to them, they applied to him all kinds of wicked tortures. And after these things they seized the blessed and holy Apollo, and brought him [there], and they laid many stripes upon him, and they scourged him as men scourge those who are wicked and who lead the people into error.
Then the blessed Apollo spake unto the judge, saying, “I pray God that thou also, O judge, and all those who are here present with thee may follow after my error”; and when the judge perceived that he had spoken such words unto him, he commanded that both Apollo and Philemon should be delivered over to be burnt by fire in the presence of all the multitude. And when they were in the blazing fire before the judge the blessed Apollo cried out with a loud voice unto God, so that all the assembly and even the judge himself might hear, saying, “O Lord, give not to be broken the souls which confess Thee, but make us to see Thy deliverance boldly.” Then straightway a brilliant cloud, which was laden with dew, appeared, and it enveloped these men and quenched the flames of fire; and the crowds and the judge marvelled and cried out, saying, “One is the God of the Christians.”
And certain wicked men made known the things which had taken place to the governor of Alexandria, and he chose out from among his bodyguard some savage and merciless men,
