Stelle Nam illo tempore crudelius Arrianor...; (Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae (475 - 489), Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae, III, 42, 47 (p. 51-2), translation: Victor of Vita: History of the Vandal Persecution, translation by John [5694]

Basic Information
Keywords
ID 5694
Text Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae (475 - 489) Victor of Vita
Quotation Nam illo tempore crudelius Arrianorum episcopi, presbyteri et clerici quam rex et Wandali saeviebant. Nam ad persequendum ipsi cum suis clericis ubique gladiis accincti currebant; sicut quidam episcopus, inter illos ceteris crudelior, Antonius nomine, qui tam nefaria et incredibilia in nostris exercuit, ut narrari non queant. Fuit iste in quadam civitate proxima heremo, quae Tripolitanae provinciae vicinatur, qui, ut bestia insatiabilis, catholicorum sitiens sanguinem huc illucque ad rapeindum rugiens excurrebat. ... Erat quaedam generalis ista violentia tyrannorum: nam Wandali pro hac re ubique fuerant destinati, ut transeuntes itinera sacerdotibus suis adducerent iugulandos. At ubi eos fallacis aqaue gladio peremissent, indicium eis perditionis scriptura teste tradebant, ne alibi simili violentia traherentur, quia non licebat sive privatis sive negotiatoribus alicubi transire, nisi descriptam caracteris indicio suam miseri ostenderunt mortem: quam per revelationem servo suo Iohanni olim iam ostenderat christus, ubi dicit: 'nulli licebit aliquid emere vel vendere, nisi qui habuerit caractere, bestiae in fronte sua et in manu sua'.
Translation 42 Now at that time the bishops, priest and clergy of the Arians were raging with greater cruelty than the king and the Vandals. For they themselves, with their clergy, were running everywhere, girded with swords, in order to persecute. Among them was a bishop, more cruel than the others, named Antonius; so abominable and unbelievable are the things which he did to us that they cannot be told. He lived in a town near the desert, not far from the province of Tripolitania, and, like a beast which could not be satisfied and thirsted for the blood of Catholics, he ran to and fro, roaring, in order to snatch them. 47 Indeed, the violence of the tyrants was universal, for the Vandals had been sent everywhere for the purpose of handing over people travelling along the roads to their priests so that they would be slaughtered. But, when they had slain them with sword of deceiving water, they gave them a document written in testimony of their perdition, in case they were dragged away with similar violence on another occasion, because neither private citizens nor merchants were allowed to travel anywhere unless the wretched people displayed a written token of their death. In former time Christ already showed this through a revelation to his servant John, when he says: 'No-one will be allowed to buy or sell anything unless he has the branding mark of the beast on his forehead and on his hand' (Rev 13:16-17).
Quotation source Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae, III, 42, 47 (p. 51-2), translation: Victor of Vita: History of the Vandal Persecution, translation by John Moorhead, Translated Texts for Historians, vol. 10 (Liverpool University Press: 1992), p. 82
Temporal Coverage 477 - 484
Associated use case(s)
Comment Datum$$$