The tragedies of tyrants Exercised upon the church of God, from the birth of…The tragedies of tyrantes Exercised vpon the church of God, from the birth of…

In Meroe a city of Phrygia, three honest citizens, Macedonius, Theodulus, & Tacianus, when as the day before, the chief officer of the city had set open a temple of Idols, which had until that time bin shut up, to the intent there should now be sacrifice done in it, in the night entering into it they plucked down the Idols, and brake them. But when this judge and chief officer Amatius began to have tormented sundry Christians whereby he might come to knowledge who had broken the Idols: these three coming unto the judge, desired him not to torment any man for breaking the Idols, for they were the doers of it. Wherefore they were taken and roasted a great while, & at length burnt. In the same persecution Artemius lieutenant of egypt, because he constantly professed y• faith of Christ: was spoiled of all his goods, & in the end lost his head: y• like whereof many good, and honest men suffered. whoso desireth a more large description of these things: let him read y• 6. book of y• Tripartite history, also the histories of Ruffi. Theodo. and Sozo. ⟨image 52⟩Moreover, Julianus to y• intent he might ¹molest the Christians, whom he could not compel to the Gentiles religion: he gave licence to the miserable Jews, to return to Jerusalem, there to assemble themselves together and to build a temple, and to frequent their sacrifice, promising unto them his assistance for the better accomplishing the same. But after that a great multitude of them was gathered together out of all nations and had prepared stuff for their present business, erected scaffolds to work upon and partly had digged their foundations and partly laid them, being busy about their building: behold, a great earthquake shook the foundations, and cast them down: there flamed also an horrible fire out of the very foundations, and a strange and terrible tempest over threw the scaffolds, shaking down what ever they had builded, and slew a great multitude of the Jews. There was also a terrible boule of fire tumbling there about all the day long, which hindered and endamaged them very much: and whereas before the Jews, ⟨p. 50⟩