(Not Including Judas)
PHILIP: Philip labored diligently in Upper Asia [today's Turkey], and suffered martyrdom at Heliopolis in Phyrgia. He was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards crucified AD 54.
MATTHEW: Matthew wrote his gospel [first book of New Testament in the Bible] in Hebrew, which was afterwards translated into Greek by James the Less. The scene of his labors was Parthia and Ethiopia, in which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd [combination spear and battle axe] in the city of Nadabah AD 60.
JAMES THE LESS: He was elected to the oversight of the churches of Jerusalem; and was the author of the Epistle [book of New Testament in the Bible] ascribed to James in the sacred canon. At the age of ninety-four he was beaten and stoned by the Jews; and finally had his brains dashed out with a fuller's club
ANDREW: He preached the gospel to many Asiatic nations; but on his arrival at Edessa [in today's Turkey] he was taken and crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground.
PETER: Jerome saith that he was crucified, his head being down and his feet upward, himself so requiring, because he was (he said) unworthy to be crucified after the same form and manner as the Lord was.
THADDEUS/JUDE: Thaddeus was crucified at Edessa [in Today's Turkey] AD 72
BARTHOLOMEW / NATHANIEL: Nathaniel preached in several countries, and having translated the Gospel of Matthew into the language of India [where Buddhism and Hinduism were predominant] he propogated it in that country. He was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient idolaters.
THOMAS/DIDYMUS: Thomas preached the Gospel in Parthia and India (where Buddhism and Hinduism were predominant] where, exciting the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear.
SIMON THE ZEALOT; Simon preached the Gospel in Mauritania, Africa, and even in Britain, in which latter country he was crucified AD 74.
JOHN: The churches of Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea and Thyatira were founded by him. From Ephesus he was ordered to be sent to Rome where it is affirmed he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. He escaped by miracle, without injury. Domitian [Caesar] afterwards banished him to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation [in the New Testament of the Bible]. He was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.
MATTHIAS: He was elected to fill the vacant place of Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded.
MARK: He is supposed to have been converted to Christianity by Peter, whom he served as an amanuensis, and under whose inspection he wrote his Gospel in the Greek language. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria [Egypt], at the great solemnity of Serapis their idol, ending his life under their merciless hands.
PAUL: Nero sent two of his esquires, Ferega and Parthemius, to bring him word of his death, They, coming to Paul [while he was] instructing the people, desired him to pray for them that they might believe; who told them that shortly after they should believe and be baptised at his sepulcher. This done, the soldiers came and led him out of the city to the place of execution, where he, after his prayers made, gave his neck to the sword.
LUKE: The evangelist was the author of the Gospel which goes under his name [in the New Testament part of the Bible]. He travelled with Paul through various countries, and is supposed to have been hanged on an olive tree by the idolatrous priests of Greece.
BARNABUS: His death is supposed to have taken place about AD 73. And yet, notwithstanding all these continual persecutions and horrible punishments, the Church daily increased, deeply rooted in the doctrine of the apostles and of men apostolical, and watered plenteously with the blood of saints.
In Mount Ararat [bordering today's Turkey and Russia] many were crucified, crowned with thorns, and spears run into their sides in imitation of Christ's passion. Eustachius, a brave and successful Roman commander, was by the emperor ordered to join in an idolatrous sacrifice to celebrate some of his own victories; but his faith was so much greater than his vanity, that he nobly refused it. Enraged at the denial, the ungrateful emperor forgot the service of this skillful commander and ordered him and his whole family to be martyred....
Some of the martyrs were obliged to pass, with their already wounded feet, over thorns, nails, sharp shells, etc. upon their points, others were scourged until their sinews and veins lay bare, and after suffering the most excruciating tortures that could be devised, they were destroyed by the most terrible deaths.
Germanicus, a young man, but a true Christian, being delivered to the wild beasts on account of his faith, behaved with such astonishing courage that several pagans became converts to a faith which inspired such fortitude.
Polycarp.... The proconsul then urged him saying, "Swear and I will release thee ~ reproach Christ." Polycarp answered, "Eighty and six years have I serverd him, and he never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my King, Who hath saved me?" At the stake, to which he was only tied, but not nailed as usual, as he assured them he should stand immovable, the flames on their kindling the fagots, encircled his body, like an arch, without touching him; and the executioner, on seeing this, was ordered to pierce him with a sword, when so great a quantity of blood flowed out as extinguished the fire. But his body, at the instigation of the enemies of the Gospel...was ordered to be consumed in the pile....
Justin, and six of his, were apprehended. Being commanded to sacrifice to the pagan idols, they refused, and were condemned to be scourged, and then beheaded; which sentence was executed with all imaginable severity. Several were beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to the image of Jupiter....
It soon after raged in France, particularly at Lyons, where the tortures to which many of the Christians were put, almost exceed the powers of description....
Blandina, on the day when she and the three other champions were first brought into the amphitheater, she was suspended on a piece of wood fixed in the ground, and exposed as food for the wild beats; at which time, by her earnest prayers, she encouraged others. But none of the wild beasts would touch her, so that she was remanded to prison. When she was again produced for the third and last time, she was accompanied by Ponticus, a youth of fifteen, and the constancy of their faith so enraged the multitude that neither the sex of the one nor the youth of the other were respected, being exposed to all manner of punishments and tortures....
Rhais had boiled, pitch poured upon her head, and was then burnt, as was Marcella her mother. Potainiena, the sister of Rhais, was executed in the same manner....
The persecutions now extending to Africa, many were martyred in that quarter of the globe....
Cecilia, a young lady of good family in Rome...was placed naked in a scalding bath, and having continued there a considerable time, her head was struck off with a sword....
Julian, a native of Cilicia...was seized upon for being a Christian. He was put into a leather bag, together with a number of serpents and scorpions, and in that condition thrown into the sea.
Peter, a young man amiable for the superior qualities of his body and mind...refusing to sacrifice to Venus. He said, "I am astonished you should sacrifice to an infamous woman, whose debaucheries even your own historians record, and whose life consisted of such actions as your laws would punish. No, I shall offer the true God the acceptable sacrifice of praises and prayers." Optimus, the proconsul of Asia [a province in today's Turkey], on hearing this, ordered the prisoner to be stretched upon a wheel, by which all his bones were broken, and then he was sent to be beheaded.
Nichomachus, being brought before the proconsul as a Christian, was ordered to sacrifice to the pagan idols. Nichomachus replied, "I cannot pay that respect to devils which is only due to the Almighty." This speech so much enraged the proconsul that Nichomachus was put to the rack....
Alexander and Epimachus, of Alexandria, were apprehended for being Christians: and confessing the accusation, were beat with staves, torn with hooks, and at length burnt in the fire....
Lucian and Marcian, two wicked pagans, though skilful magicians, became converts to Christianity....were seized upon, and carried before Sabinus, the governor of Bithynia [in today's Turkey]. On being asked by what authority they took upon themselves to preach, Lucian answered that the laws of charity and humanity obliged all men to endeavor the conversion of their neighbors, and to do everything in their power to rescue them from the snares of the devil....The proconsul, finding that he could not prevail with them to renounce their faith, condemned them to be burnt alive....
Trypho and Respicius, two eminent men, were seized as Christians, and imprisoned at Nice [France]. Their feet were pierced with nails; they were dragged through the streets, scourged, torn with iron hooks, scorched with lighted torches, and at length beheaded...
Agatha, a Sicilian lady...her beauty was such that Quintian, governor of Sicily, became enamored of her and made many attempts upon her chastity without success....This wretch tried every artifice to win her to the desired prostitution...her chastity was impregnable, and she well knew that virtue alone could procure true happiness....On her confessing that she was a Chriisian....she was scourged, burnt with red-hot irons, and torn with sharp hooks. Having borne these torments with admirable fortitude, she was next laid naked upon live coals, intermingled with glass, and then being carried back to prison, she there expired....
Julianus, an old man lame with the gout, and Cronion, another Christian, were bound on the backs of camels, severely scourged, and then thrown into a fire and consumed. Also forty virgins, at Antioch, after being imprisoned, and scourged, were burnt....
Theodora, a beautiful young lady of Antioch, on refusing to sacrifice to the Roman idols, was condemned to the stews [public baths for men, brothels] that her virtue might be sacrificed to the brutality of lust....
About that time Saturninus...of Toulouse [France], refusing to sacrifice to idols, was treated with all the barbarous indignities imaginable, and fastened by the feet to the tail of a bull. Upon a signal given, the enranged animal was driven down the steps of the temple, by which the worthy martyr's brains were dashed out....
Let us draw near to the fire of martyred Lawrence that our cold hearts may be warmed thereby....Lawrence [to Marcianus, administrator of the Roman government who had just stolen the church's treasury], stretching out his arm over the poor, said, "These are the precious treasure of the Church....What more precious jewels can Christ have?...For so it is written, 'I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in'....What greater riches can Christ our Master possess than the poor people in whom He loveth to be seen?" O, what tongue is able to express the fury and madness of the tyrant's [Marcianus'] heart! Now he stamped, he stirred, he ramped, he fared as one out of his wits: his eyes like fire glowed, his mouth like a boar foamed, his teeth like a hellhound grinned. Now, not a reasonable man, but a roaring lion, he might be called. "Kindle the fire (he cried) ~ of wood make no spare. Hath this villain deluded the emperor? Away with him, away with him: whip him with scourges, jerk him with rods, buffet him with fists, brain him with clubs. Jesteth the traitor with the emperor? Pinch him with fiery tongs, gird him with burning plates, bring out the strongest chains, and the fire-forks, and the grated bed of iron: on the first with it; bind the rebel hand and foot; and when the bed is fire-hot, on with him: roast him, broil him, toss him, turn him." The word was no sooner spoken, but all was done. After many cruel handlings, this meek lamb was laid, I will not say on his fiery bed of iron, but on his soft bed of down....
At Utica, a most terrible tragedy was exhibited: three hundred Christians were, by the orders of the proconsul, placed round a burning limekiln. The pan of coals and incense being prepared, they were commanded either to sacrifice to Jupiter, or to be thrown into the kiln. Unanimously refusing, they bravely jumped into the pit....
Fructuosus...in Spain, and his two deacons, Augurius and Eulogius, were burnt for being Christians. Alexander, Malchus and Priscus, three Christians of Palestine, with a woman of the same place, voluntarily accused themselves of being Christians; on which account they were sentenced to be devoured by tigers....Maxima, Donatilla and Secunda, three virgins of Tuberga, had gall and vinegar given them to drink, were then severely scourged, tormented on a gibbett, rubbed with lime, scorched on a gridiron, worried by wild beasts, and at length beheaded....
Zoe, the wife of the jailer, who had the care of the beforementioned martyrs, was also converted by them, and hung upon a tree, with a fire of straw lighted under her. When her body was taken down, it was thrown into a river, with a large stoned tied to it, in order to sink it....
In the year of Christ 286, a most remarkable affair occurred; a legion of soldiers, consisting of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men, contained none but Christians....under the command of...Maximiam...commanded that they should take the oath of allegiance and swear at the same time to assist in the extirpation of Christianity in Gaul [France] Alarmed at these orders, each individual of the Theban Legion absolutely refused either to sacrifice or take the oaths prescribed. This so greatly enraged Maximiam that he ordered the legion to be decimated, that is, every tenth man to be selected from the rest and put to the sword. This bloody order having been put in execution, those who remained alive were still inflexible when a second decimation took place, and every tenth man of those living was put to death....enraged at their perseverance and unanimity, he commanded that the whole legion should be put to death, which was accordingly executed by the other troops, who cut them to pieces with their swords September 22, 286....
Faith, a Christian female of Acquitain in France, was ordered to be broiled upon a gridiron and then beheaded AD 287. Quintin was a Christian...in Gaul....in Picardy....Being seized upon as a Christian, he was stretched with pullies until his joints were dislocated; his body was then torn with wire scourges and boiling oil and pitch poured on his naked flesh; lighted torches were applied to his sides and armpits; and after he had been thus tortured, he was remanded back to prison, and died of the barbarities he had suffered October 31, 287....
No distinction was made of age or sex; the name of Christian was so obnoxious to the pagans that all indiscriminately fell sacrifices to their opinions. Many houses were set on fire, and whole Christian families perished in the flames; and others had stones fastened about their necks, and being tied together were driven into the sea....Racks, scourges, swords, daggers, crosses, poison, and famine were made us of in various parts to dispatch the Christians; and invention was exhausted to devise tortures against such as had no crime....A city of Phrygia, consisting entirely of Christians, was burnt, and all the inhabitants perished in the flames....
Sebastian...was born at Narbonne, in Gaul [France]....remained a true Christian in the midst of idolatry....Refusing to be a pagan, the emperor ordered him to be taken to a field near the city...,to be shot to death with arrows; which sentence was executed accordingly [but he survived]....As soon as Diocletian had overcome his surprise, he ordered Sebastian to be seized, and carried to a place near the palace, and beaten to death and....thrown into the common sewer....
Victor was a Christian of a good family at Marseilles in France....seized by the emperor Maximian's decree, who ordered him to be bound and dragged through the streets...treated with all manner of cruelties and indignities by the enranged populace. Remaining still inflexible, his courage was deemed obstinacy. Being by order stretched upon the rack, he turned his eyes toward heaven, and prayed to God to endue him with patience, after which he underwent the tortures with most admirable fortitude. After the executioners were tired with inflicting torments on him, he was conveyed to a dungeon. In his confinement, he converted his jailers....immediately put to death....Victor was then again put to the rack, unmercifully beaten with batoons, and again sent to prison. Being a third time examined concerning his religion, he persevered in his principles; a small altar was then brought, and he was commanded to offer incense upon it immediately. Fired with indignation at the request, he boldly stepped forward, and with his foot overthrew both altar and idol. This so enraged the emperor Maximiam, who was present, that he ordered the foot with which he had kicked the alter to be immediately cut off; and Victor was thrown into a mill and crushed to pieces with the stones AD 303....
Three Christians were brought before [Maximus, governor of Cilicia]; their names were Tarachus, an aged man, Probus,and Andronicus. After repeated tortures and exhortations to recant, they at length were ordered for execution. Being brought to the amphitheater, several beasts were let loose upon them; but none of the animals, though hungry, would touch them. The keeper then brought out a large bear that had that very day destroyed three men; but this voracious creature and a fierce lioness both refused to touch the prisoners. Finding the design of destroying them by the means of wild beasts ineffectual, Maximus ordered them to be slain by the sword on October 11 AD 303.
Romanus, a native of Palestine....being condemned for his faith at Antioch, he was scourged, put to the rack, his body torn with hooks, his flesh cut with knives, his face scarified, his teeth beaten from their sockets, and his hair plucked up by the roots. Soon after he was ordered to be strangled November 17 AD 303....
Peter, a eunuch belonging to the emperor, was a Christian of singular modesty and humility. He was laid on a gridiron and broiled over a slow fire until he expired....
Eulalia, a spanish lady of a Christian family, was remarkable in her youth for sweetness of temper, and solidity of understanding....Being apprehended as a Christian, the magistrate attempted by the mildest means to bring her over to paganism, but she ridiculed the pagan deities with such asperity that the judge, incensed at her behavior, ordered her to be tortured. Her sides were accordingly torn by hooks, and her breasts burnt in the most shocking manner, until she expired by the violence of the flames December AD 303.
In the year 304, when the persecution reached Spain....Vincent was racked, his limbs dislocated, his flesh torn with hooks, and he was laid on a gridiron which had not only fire placed under it, but spikes at the top which ran into his flesh. These torments neither destroying him nor changing his resolutions, he was remanded to prison and confined in a small loathsome dark dungeon strewed with sharp flints and pieces of broken glass where he died January 22, 304....
...ordered Irene [in Greece] to be exposed naked in the streets, which shameful order having been executed, a fire was kindled near the city wall, amidst whose flames her spirit ascended beyond the reach of man's cruelty....
Sabinus...refusing to sacrifice to Jupiter and pushing the idol from him, had his hand cut off by the order of the governor of Tuscany. While in prison he converted the governor and his family, all of whom suffered martyrdom for the faith. Soon after their executions, Sabinus himself was scourged to death December AD 304....
Julitta, a Lycaonian of royal descent...while on the rack, her child was killed before her face....To complete the execution, Julitta had boiling pitch poured on her feet, her sides torn with hooks, and received the conclusion of her martyrdom by being beheaded April 16 AD 305....
Quirinus...was ordered to sacrifice to the pagan deities....sent him to jail, and ordered him to be heavily ironed...might overcome his resolution....sent to Amantius, the principal governor of Pannonia now Hungry, who loaded him with chains and carried him through the principal towns of the Danube, exposing him to ridicule wherever he went....Quirinus would not renounce his faith, he ordered him to be cast into a river with a stone fastened about his neck. This sentence being put into execution, Quirinus floated about for some time and, exhorting the people in the most pious terms, concluded his adminitions with this prayer....On pronouncing his last words he immediately sank and died June 4, AD 308.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ work with thee, gentle reader, in all thy studious readings. And when thou hast faith, so employ thyself to read that by reading thou mayest learn daily to know that which may profit thy soul; may teach thee experience, may arm thee with patience, and instruct thee in all spiritual knowledge more and more, to thy perfect comfort and salvation in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to whom be glory in secula seculorum. Amen.