CHAPTER XIV

CONDUCT AND MARTYRDOM OF MILLES THE BISHOP; MULTITUDE OF BISHOPS SLAIN IN PERSIA BY SAPOR, BESIDES OBSCURE INDIVIDUALS

ABOUT this period Milles suffered martyrdom. He originally served the Persians in a military capacity, but afterwards abandoned that vocation in order to embrace the apostolical mode of life. It is related that he was ordained bishop over a Persian city, where he underwent a variety of sufferings; and that, failing in his efforts to convert the inhabitants to Christianity, he uttered imprecations against the city and departed. Not long after, some of the principal citizens incurred the anger of the king, and an army with three hundred elephants was sent against them; the city was utterly demolished, and corn was sown on its site. Milles, taking with him nothing but the holy Book of the Gospels, repaired to Jerusalem to worship; thence he proceeded to Egypt in order to see the monks. The extraordinary and admirable works which he accomplished are attested by the Syrians, who have written an account of his life and actions. For my own part, I think that I have said enough of him and of the other martyrs who suffered in Persia during the reign of Sapor. It would be difficult to relate in detail every circumstance respecting them, such as their names, their country, the mode of their martyrdom, and the species of torture to which they were subjected. I shall briefly state that the number of men and women whose names have been ascertained, and who were martyred at this period, has been computed to be upwards of sixteen thousand, while the multitude of martyrs whose names are unknown was so great that the Persians, the Syrians, and the inhabitants of Edessa, have failed in all their efforts to compute the number.