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John, the Evangelist, happened to be there; when he heard of this decree, he grew afraid and fled to Ephesus.
The emperor then ordered that the Christians be honored and that no one object to them.
After him another Caesar ruled for a year and a little more, and he was followed by a ruler who reigned for nineteen years, a man called Trajan.
He said: This emperor brought a grave calamity and long-lasting sorrow upon the Christians. He slew many martyrs, executed the Patriarch of Antioch in Rome, put to death the bishop of Jerusalem and crucified him—he was one hundred and twenty years old—and decreed that the Christians be reduced to slavery, maintaining that they possessed neither religion nor revealed law.
وَكَانَ
" يُوحَنَّا "
صَاحِبُ الْإِنْجِيلِ هُنَاكَ فَسَمِعَ بِهَذَا، فَخَافَ وَهَرَبَ إِلَى أَفْسِسَ.
ثُمَّ إِنَّهُ أَمَرَ بِإِكْرَامِهِمْ وَتَرْكِ الِاعْتِرَاضِ عَلَيْهِمْ.
ثُمَّ تَوَلَّى بَعْدَهُ قَيْصَرُ آخَرُ سَنَةً وَبَعْضَ أُخْرَى، ثُمَّ مَلَكَ آخَرُ بَعْدَهُ تِسْعَ عَشْرَةَ سَنَةً، يُسَمَّى
" طِرَايَانُوسُ "
.
قَالَ:
وَهَذَا الْمَلِكُ أَثَارَ عَلَى النَّصَارَى بَلَاءً عَظِيمًا وَحُزْنًا طَوِيلًا، وَقَتَلَ شُهَدَاءَ كَثِيرَةً، وَقَتَلَ بَطْرِيَرْكَ إِنْطَاكِيَةَ بِرُومِيَّةَ وَقَتَلَ أَسْقُفَّ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ وَصَلَبَهُ وَلَهُ مِائَةٌ وَعِشْرُونَ سَنَةً، وَأَمَرَ أَنْ يُسْتَعْبَدَ النَّصَارَى إِذْ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ دِينٌ وَلَا شَرِيعَةٌ.