A letter of Peter of Alexandria to a bishop who apostasised in the persecution under Diocletian

In the Acts of St Colluthus, which record events in May 304 AD, the persecutor Arianus attempts to get Colluthus the physician to apostasise by sacrificing to the gods. Not that Arianus, nor the emperor Diocletian who set him to work, actually believed in the gods. The demand was made precisely because it was known to be one that a Christian could not accept, and would cease to be a Christian if he did. Once he had done so, his Christian identity was gone. This tactic is a standard one, even today, wherever men do evil to each other, which is often these days. As part of the process of confusing his victim, Arianus tells of other Christian leaders who have buckled and conformed: There was Apollonius, the bishop of Siout; his people were most understanding about him, and took a dignified view of his prudence, since he did not wish to be disobedient, or to be brought to court and hear all this rigmarole, but he proceeded of his own accord into the temple and sacrificed in full view of…