Primary source · Latin

The Passion of the Martyrs of Agaunum

Eucherius of Lyon · c. AD 440–450

Patrologia Latina, vol. 50 (Migne) — manuscript witness to The Passion of the Martyrs of Agaunum
Patrologia Latina, vol. 50 (Migne) — 1846diverse authors · Public domain · Commons
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Patrologia Latina, vol. 50 (Migne) — manuscript witness to The Passion of the Martyrs of Agaunum

Patrologia Latina, vol. 50 (Migne) — 1846diverse authors · Public domain · Commons

What this text is

Eucherius's account of Maurice and the Theban Legion, written ~150 years after the traditional event — the earliest witness to an episode whose historicity remains disputed.

Public-domain translations

Working translation (from the Latin)

'Emperor, we are thy soldiers, but before that we are the servants of God. To thee we owe military service; to Him, innocence... We have arms, and we do not resist — for we would rather die than kill.'

Manuscript witnesses

Paris, BnF lat. 9550

c. 700

Early copy of Eucherius's letter-passio, within three centuries of composition.

EARLIEST WITNESS

Patrologia Latina, vol. 50 (Migne)

1846

Standard pre-critical text among the works of Eucherius.

PRINTED PROXY

Provenance

Lyon and the shrine of Agaunum (Saint-Maurice, Switzerland)

Editions & scholarship

Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.

Figures named in this text (1)