Second Apology 1

Justin Martyr · Second Apology · ca. 150–160 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: Recent executions under the prefect Urbicus move Justin to write again, since the demons use those rebuked by Christians to have them killed.

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Greek text · Rauschen, 114–116

Καὶ τὰ χθὲς δὲ καὶ πρώην ἐν τῇ πόλει ὑμῶν γενόμενα ἐπὶ Οὐρβίκου, ὦ Ῥωμαῖοι, καὶ τὰ πανταχοῦ ὁμοίως ὑπὸ τῶν ἡγουμένων ἀλόγως πραττόμενα ἐξηνάγκασέ με ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ὁμοιοπαθῶν ὄντων καὶ ἀδελφῶν, κἂν ἀγνοῆτε καὶ μὴ θέλητε διὰ τὴν δόξαν τῶν νομιζομένων ἀξιωμάτων, τὴν τῶνδε τῶν λόγων σύνταξιν ποιήσασθαι. Πανταχοῦ γάρ, ὃς ἂν σωφρονίζηται ὑπὸ πατρὸς ἢ γείτονος ἢ τέκνου ἢ φίλου ἢ ἀδελφοῦ ἢ ἀνδρὸς ἢ γυναικὸς κατʼ ἔλλειψιν, (χωρὶς τῶν πεισθέντων τοὺς ἀδίκους καὶ ἀκολάστους ἐν αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ κολασθήσεσθαι, τοὺς δʼ ἐναρέτους καὶ ὁμοίως Χριστῷ βιώσαντας ἐν ἀπαθείᾳ συγγενήσεσθαι τῷ θεῷ, λέγομεν δὲ τῶν γενομένων Χριστιανῶν), διὰ τὸ δυσμετάθετον καὶ φιλήδονον καὶ δυσκίνητον πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ὁρμῆσαι, καὶ οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες, ἐχθραίνοντες ἡμῖν καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους δικαστὰς ἔχοντες ὑποχειρίους καὶ λατρεύοντας, ὡς οὖν ἄρχοντας δαιμονιῶντας, φονεύειν ἡμᾶς παρασκευάζουσιν. Ὅπως δὲ καὶ ἡ αἰτία τοῦ παντὸς γενομένου ἐπὶ Οὐρβίκου φανερὸν ὑμῖν γένηται, τὰ πεπραγμένα ἀπαγγελῶ.

English · Claude translation

Romans, the things that have happened in your city yesterday and the day before under Urbicus, and the things done in the same way everywhere by the governors without reason, have compelled me to compose this address for your sake, since you are men of like passions and brothers, even if you do not know it and do not wish it because of the glory of your supposed dignities. For everywhere, whoever is corrected by father or neighbor or child or friend or brother or husband or wife for some fault (apart from those who have been persuaded that the unjust and licentious will be punished in eternal fire, and that the virtuous and those who have lived like Christ will be with God free from suffering; I mean those who have become Christians), because of their stubbornness and love of pleasure and slowness to move toward the good, and the evil demons, who hate us and hold such judges subject to them and serving them, like rulers possessed by demons, bring it about that we are killed. And so that the cause of all that happened under Urbicus may be plain to you, I will relate what was done.

About this passage

Source: Rauschen, 114–116 · Gerhard Rauschen, ed., S. Iustini Apologiae duae, Florilegium Patristicum 2 (Bonn: Hanstein, 1911), 114–136 · Greek text: G. Rauschen, S. Iustini Apologiae duae (Florilegium Patristicum 2, 1911), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text: As printed in Rauschen, FlorPatr 2. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Rauschen (Florilegium Patristicum 2, 1911); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Its chapter order differs: our 3–7 are its 4–8, our 8 is its 3.
Topics: Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

Quintus Lollius Urbicus was prefect of the city of Rome from about 146 to 160.
The long parenthesis is Justin's own; the sentence is loosely built in the Greek.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Rauschen's printed text (dropped letter)): Χριστιαῶν → Χριστιανῶν; φανερὸ ὑμῖν → φανερὸν ὑμῖν.

Cite this passage

Justin, 2 Apol. 1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-2-apology/1/).

Plain text

Justin, 2 Apol. 1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/justin-2-apology/1/).

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