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Life of St Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza
Mark the Deacon, tr. Hill, 1913
Chapter 70
But there was a man there, one of the officers of the soldiers, which they call a tribune, being appointed to oversee the burning of the temple. Now in appearance he was a Christian, but unknown to the many he was an idolater. He standing by and seeing the burning and the plundering by the soldiers was cut to the heart, and making a show to punish their disorderliness did scourge unmercifully one whom he found bearing away some of the spoil. Now while these things were happening and the walls were being destroyed, of a sudden out of the fire a burning beam falleth upon the tribune and bringeth upon him a twofold death; for it brake his head and burned the rest of his body. And straightway the soldiers which believed and the Christ-loving folk, knowing the man, that his heart was inclined unto the idols, glorified God and said that psalm1 which saith: ‘Why doth the tyrant boast himself in mischief? All the day long thy tongue hath imagined wickedness; like a sharp razor thou hast wrought deceitfully. Thou hast loved mischief above goodness, iniquity more than to speak righteousness. Thou hast loved all words of destruction, a deceitful tongue. Therefore may God destroy thee for ever, may he pluck thee out and remove thee from thy dwelling-place and thy root out of the land of the living; ‘and the rest of the psalm. But the temple continued to burn for many days.
Notes
- Ps. lii. [li.] 1 f.