deacon of the city of Spolito.

Some of the restless northern nations having risen in arms against Rome,
the emperor marched to encounter them. He was, however, drawn into an
ambuscade, and dreaded the loss of his whole army. Enveloped with
mountains, surrounded by enemies, and perishing with thirst, the pagan
deities were invoked in vain; when the men belonging to the militine, or
thundering legion, who were all christians, were commanded to call upon
their God for succour. A miraculous deliverance immediately ensued; a
prodigious quantity of rain fell, which, being caught by the men, and
filling their dykes, afforded a sudden and astonishing relief. It
appears, that the storm which miraculously flashed in the faces of the
enemy, so intimidated them, that part deserted to the Roman army; the
rest were defeated, and the revolted provinces entirely recovered.

This affair occasioned the persecution to subside for some time, at
least in those parts immediately under the inspection of the emperor;
but we find that 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.

The principal of these martyrs were Vetius Agathus, a young man;
Blandina, a christian lady, of a weak constitution; Sanctus, a deacon of
Vienna; red hot plates of brass were placed upon the tenderest parts of
his body; Biblias, a weak woman, once an apostate. Attalus, of Pergamus;
and Pothinus, the venerable bishop of Lyons, who was ninety years of
age. Blandina, on the day when she and the three other champions were
first brought into the amphitheatre, she was suspended on a piece of
wood fixed in the ground, and exposed as food for the wild beasts; 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. Being strengthened by Blandina, he persevered
unto death; and she, after enduring all the torments heretofore
mentioned, was at length slain with the sword.

When the christians, upon these occasions, received martyrdom, they were
ornamented, and crowned with garlands of fl