The Acts of Peter and Paul

Introduction

There is a version of early Christianity that most people have never encountered. It is not hidden in the sense of being forbidden or suppressed by shadowy councils, though suppression did play a role in its disappearance from mainstream consciousness. It is hidden in the more mundane but equally consequential sense that it lives in texts most readers have never heard of, written in languages few modern people read, preserved in manuscripts scattered across monastery libraries from Ethiopia to Armenia to the fog-drenched coasts of Ireland. These texts tell stories — vivid, strange, sometimes shocking, often deeply moving stories — about the men and women who carried the earliest Christian message across the ancient world. And among all the figures who populate these lost and half-forgotten narratives, none loom larger, none are rendered with more dramatic intensity, than the two apostles whose lives and deaths form the heart of this book: Peter and Paul.

To understand why these stories matter, it helps to begin with what most readers already know, or think they know, about these two figures. Peter, the fisherman from Galilee, the impulsive disciple who walked on water and then sank, who denied knowing Jesus three times on the night of his arrest and then wept bitterly in the darkness — this Peter most readers recognize from the canonical Gospels. Paul, the tent-maker from Tarsus, the former persecutor of Christians who was struck blind on the road to Damascus and emerged from that blindness transformed into the most tireless missionary the ancient world had ever seen — this Paul most readers know from the Acts of the Apostles and from the letters that bear his name in the New Testament. These are powerful portraits, richly drawn. But they are, in a very real sense, incomplete.

The canonical texts of the New Testament were selected, debated, and eventually fixed over a period of several centuries, a process driven by theological argument, political circumstance, and the practical needs of communities spread across an enormous and increasingly fractured empire. What that process left out was not necessarily what early Christians considered unimportant. In many cases, the opposite was true. The texts that circulated most widely, that were read aloud in house churches from Alexandria to Antioch to Rome, that were copied and recopied by devoted scribes who considered them sacred — many of these texts did not make it into the final canon. Some were deemed heretical. Some were considered edifying but not authoritative. Some simply fell out of fashion as the theological priorities of the church shifted and evolved. And some, perhaps most poignantly, were simply lost — not through any deliberate act of censorship, but through the slow attrition of time, fire, flood, and neglect.

What we are left with is a remarkable, if fragmentary, body of literature known collectively as the New Testament Apocrypha. The word 'apocrypha' itself carries a complicated history. It derives from the Greek word meaning 'hidden' or 'set aside,' and it has been used at various points in Christian history both as a term of honor — reserved for esoteric wisdom too sacred for ordinary readers — and as a term of dismissal, a label attached to texts that the emerging institutional church wished to distance itself from. Today, scholars use it more neutrally, as a descriptive category for early Christian writings that stand outside the canonical New Testament but that were nonetheless part of the living, breathing religious culture of the ancient Christian world.

Within this broader category, the texts focused on Peter and Paul occupy a special place. The so-called Acts of Peter and the Acts of Paul are among the earliest and most widely attested of all the apocryphal acts, and they were clearly beloved. Tertullian, the formidable North African theologian writing around the turn of the third century, complained that women were using the Acts of Paul to justify their right to teach and baptize — a complaint that tells us not only that these texts were being read, but that they were being read carefully, argued over, and applied to real questions of community life. Origen, one of the greatest biblical scholars of the ancient world, cited these texts. Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote the first major history of the Christian church, knew them and discussed them at length. They were not marginal curiosities. They were, for a significant portion of early Christian history, central documents of the faith.

And yet most modern Christians have never read them. Most people who consider themselves interested in early Christianity, who have read the Gospels and Paul's letters and perhaps dipped into the writings of the early church fathers, have no idea that these texts exist, let alone what they contain. This book is an attempt to change that — to bring these extraordinary stories to the widest possible audience, to restore them to the prominence they once enjoyed, and to let readers encounter Peter and Paul not only as the familiar figures of the canonical tradition, but as the heroes of a far wilder, stranger, and more wonderful set of stories than most people have ever imagined.

Chapter 1

It came to pass that after Paul left the island of Gaudomeleta, he came to Italy. The Jews living in Rome, the greatest of cities, heard that Paul was demanding to appear before Caesar. Falling into great grief and deep despondency, they said among themselves: It is not enough for him that he alone has afflicted all our brothers and parents in Judea and Samaria and throughout all Palestine; not content with that, he now comes here as well, and through cunning petition has asked Caesar to destroy us.

They therefore assembled against Paul, and after considering many proposals, they decided to go to the Emperor Nero and ask him not to allow Paul to come to Rome. They prepared a considerable number of gifts, brought them along, and came before him with this plea: We beg you, O good emperor, send orders throughout all the provinces under your authority that Paul is not to come near these regions, for this Paul has afflicted the whole nation of our fathers and is now seeking to come here and destroy us as well. The suffering we already endure from Peter, O most worshipful emperor, is more than enough for us.

The Emperor Nero, having heard these things, answered them: Your wish shall be granted. We will write to all our provinces that he is not under any circumstances to put in at the shores of Italy. They also sent for Simon the Magician and informed him, as has been said, that he too should not come into the parts of Italy.

While all this was happening, some of those from among the nations who had repented and been baptized through Peter's preaching sent elders to Paul with a letter that read as follows: Paul, dear servant of our Lord Jesus Christ and brother of Peter, the first of the apostles, we have heard from the Jewish rabbis here in Rome, the greatest of cities, that they have asked Caesar to send word throughout all his provinces that wherever you are found you are to be put to death. But we have believed, and do believe, that just as God does not separate the two great lights he has made, so he will not part you from one another — neither Peter from Paul, nor Paul from Peter. We firmly believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, into whom we have been baptized, that we have been made worthy of your teaching as well.

Paul received the two men who had been sent with the letter on the twentieth day of May. He was eager to set out, and gave thanks to the Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Sailing from Gaudomeleta, he did not this time travel through Africa to reach Italy, but ran to Sicily, coming at last to the city of Syracuse with the two men who had been sent to him from Rome. Sailing on from there, he came to Rhegium in Calabria, and from Rhegium he crossed to Messina, where he ordained a bishop by the name of Bacchylus. When he left Messina he sailed to Didymus and remained there one night. Sailing on from there, he arrived at Puteoli on the second day.

Dioscorus the shipmaster, who had brought him to Syracuse, felt deep sympathy for Paul because Paul had delivered his son from death. He left his own ship at Syracuse and accompanied Paul to Puteoli. Some of Peter's disciples were found there, and they received Paul and urged him to stay with them. He stayed a week, in hiding, because of Caesar's command, for all the local governors were watching to seize and kill him. But Dioscorus the shipmaster, who was himself also bald, put on his shipmaster's clothing and went out boldly into the city of Puteoli on the first day. Taking him for Paul, they seized him, beheaded him, and sent his head to Caesar.

Caesar therefore summoned the leading men of the Jews and announced to them: Rejoice greatly, for Paul your enemy is dead. And he showed them the head. They celebrated with great rejoicing on that day, which was the fourteenth of June, and every one of the Jews was fully convinced.

Paul, still in Puteoli, heard that Dioscorus had been beheaded. Stricken with deep grief, he gazed up into the height of heaven and said: O Lord Almighty in heaven, who have appeared to me in every place I have gone for the sake of your only-begotten Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, punish this city, and bring out all who have believed in God and followed his word. He then said to the believers: Follow me. And going out from Puteoli with those who had believed in the word of God, they came to a place called Baiae. Looking up, they all saw that the city of Puteoli had sunk into the seabed to a depth of about one fathom, and there it remains to this day, submerged beneath the sea as a memorial.

Going on from Baiae, they traveled to Gaeta, and there Paul taught the word of God. He stayed three days in the house of Erasmus, whom Peter had sent from Rome to preach the Gospel of God. Leaving Gaeta, he came to the fortress called Tarracina and stayed there seven days in the house of Caesarius the deacon, whom Peter had ordained by the laying on of hands. Sailing on from there, he came by river to a place called the Three Taverns.

Meanwhile, those who had escaped from the city of Puteoli before it was swallowed up reported to Caesar in Rome that Puteoli had been engulfed along with all its people. The emperor was stricken with great grief over the city, and summoning the chief men of the Jews, he said to them: See what has happened — because of what you told me, I had Paul beheaded, and because of this the city has been swallowed up. The chief men of the Jews replied: Most worshipful emperor, did we not tell you that he was troubling all the lands of the East and turning our fathers away from their faith? It is better, most worshipful emperor, that one city be destroyed than the seat of your empire, for Rome itself would have had to suffer this fate. The emperor, hearing their words, was appeased.

And Paul stayed at Three Taverns for four days. Departing from there, he came to the Forum of Appius, which is called Vicusarape; and having slept there that night, he saw a figure seated on a golden chair, with a crowd of dark spirits standing beside him. One said: Today I made a son murder his father. Another said: I made a house collapse and kill parents along with their children. And they reported to him many evil deeds, some of one kind, some of another. Then another came forward and reported: I arranged for Bishop Juvenalius, whom Peter ordained, to sleep with the abbess Juliana. Having heard all these things while sleeping there at the Forum of Appius near Vicusarape, Paul immediately sent one of those who had followed him from Puteoli ahead to Rome, to Bishop Juvenalius, telling him exactly what had just taken place. And on the following day, Juvenalius came running and threw himself at Peter's feet, weeping and lamenting, and told him what had just befallen him; and he recounted the whole matter, and said: I believe this is the one you were waiting for. And Peter said: How can it be him, when he is dead? Then Bishop Juvenalius brought to Peter the man who had been sent by Paul, and he reported that Paul was alive, on his way, and at that moment at the Forum of Appius. And Peter gave thanks and glorified God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then he summoned his disciples who believed, and sent them out to meet Paul as far as Three Taverns. The distance from Rome to Three Taverns is thirty-eight miles. When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, took courage, and departing from there, they spent the night in the city called Aricia.

And a report spread through the city of Rome that Paul, the brother of Peter, was coming. Those who believed in God rejoiced with great joy. And there was great consternation among the Jews; and they went to Simon the Magician and urged him, saying: Tell the emperor that Paul is not dead, but alive and has arrived. And Simon said to the Jews: What head was it, then, that came to Caesar from Puteoli? Was it not bald as well?

And when Paul arrived in Rome, great fear fell upon the Jews. They came together to him and pressed him, saying: Defend the faith in which you were born; for it is not right that you, being a Hebrew and of the Hebrews, should call yourself teacher of the Gentiles and champion of the uncircumcised; and, being yourself circumcised, that you should bring to nothing the faith of the circumcision. And when you see Peter, contend against his teaching, because he has torn down all the foundations of our law; for he has prevented the keeping of Sabbaths and new moons, and the holy days appointed by the law. And Paul answered them, saying: That I am a true Jew, you can prove by this: that you yourselves have been able to keep the Sabbath and observe the true circumcision; for assuredly on the day of the Sabbath God rested from all His works. We have fathers, and patriarchs, and the law. What, then, does Peter preach in the kingdom of the Gentiles? But if he wishes to introduce any new teaching, send word to him without tumult or envy or strife, so that we may hear him, and I will examine him in your presence. But if his teaching is true, supported by the scriptures and testimony of the Hebrews, then it is right for all of us to submit to him.

After Paul had said these and similar things, the Jews went and said to Peter: Paul of the Hebrews has arrived, and asks you to come to him, since those who brought him say that he cannot visit anyone he wishes until he has appeared before Caesar. When Peter heard this, he rejoiced with great joy; and rising up, he went to him at once. When they saw each other, they wept for joy; and embracing each other for a long time, they bathed each other with tears.

And when Paul had told Peter the substance of all his experiences, and how he had arrived through the disasters of the shipwreck, Peter in turn told him what he had suffered at the hands of Simon the Magician, and all his schemes. And having told each other these things, he went away toward evening.

And in the morning of the following day, at dawn, Peter came and found a great crowd of Jews before Paul's door. And there was a great uproar between the Jewish Christians and the Gentiles. For the Jews said: We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, the friends of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets, with whom God spoke, to whom He revealed His own mysteries and His great wonders. But you Gentiles are of no great lineage; and beyond that, you have made yourselves polluted and abominable through idols and graven images.

While the Jews were saying such things and more of the same, those of the Gentiles answered, saying: We, when we heard the truth, straightway followed it, having abandoned our errors. But you, though you knew the mighty deeds of your fathers, and saw the signs of the prophets, and received the law, and walked through the sea on dry ground, and saw your enemies swallowed up in its depths, and had the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day shining before you, and manna given to you out of heaven, and water flowing to you out of a rock — after all these things you fashioned for yourselves the idol of a calf and worshipped a graven image. But we, having seen none of these signs, believe as our Saviour the very God whom you have forsaken in your unbelief.

While they were contending with these and similar words, the Apostle Paul said that they ought not to attack one another in this way, but should rather give heed to this: that God had fulfilled His promises which He swore to Abraham our father, that in his seed all the nations should be his inheritance. For there is no partiality with God. As many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law, and as many as have sinned without the law shall perish without the law. But we, brothers, ought to thank God that according to His mercy He has chosen us to be a holy people to Himself; so that in this we ought to boast, whether Jews or Greeks, for you are all one in the belief of His name.

And when Paul had spoken in this way, both the Jews and the Gentiles were calmed. But the rulers of the Jews turned on Peter. When they accused him of having abandoned their synagogues, Peter said: Listen, brothers, to what the Holy Spirit said through the patriarch David, promising, "Of the fruit of your womb shall He set upon your throne." Him, therefore, to whom the Father said, "You are my Son; this day I have begotten You," the chief priests crucified out of envy. But it was permitted that He should suffer all these things so that He might accomplish the salvation of the world. Just as Eve was created from the side of Adam, so the Church was created from the side of Christ — a Church that has no spot or blemish. In Him, therefore, God has opened a way of entry to all the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so that they might believe and profess faith in Him, and have life and salvation in His name. Turn, then, and enter into the joy of your father Abraham, for God has fulfilled what He promised him. Hence the prophet also says, "The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." For He became a priest upon the cross, when He offered His own body and blood as a whole burnt offering and sacrifice for all the world.

When Peter had said this and much else besides, the greater part of the people believed. It also came about that Nero's wife Libia, and Agrippina, the wife of Agrippa the prefect, likewise believed, so that they withdrew from their own husbands. And because of Paul's teaching, many men turned away from military life and devoted themselves to God, so that even some from the emperor's own household came to him, and having become Christians, were no longer willing to return to the army or the palace.

When the people on this account began to murmur and grow restless, Simon, stirred by jealousy, roused himself and began to say many evil things about Peter, calling him a wizard and a fraud. The people believed Simon, for they marveled at his miracles: he made a bronze serpent move on its own, caused stone statues to laugh and stir, and made himself run and suddenly rise into the air. Against all this, Peter healed the sick by a word, restored sight to the blind through prayer, drove out demons by a command, and at times even raised the dead. He told the people not only to flee from Simon's deception but to expose him openly, so that they would not appear to be slaves of the devil.

And so it came about that all devout people despised Simon the Magician and declared him to be godless. But those who sided with Simon insisted loudly that Peter was the magician, and many of them who were with Simon bore false witness against him, until the matter reached the ears of Nero Caesar himself. Nero gave orders for Simon the Magician to be brought before him. Simon came in and stood before him, and immediately began to take on different forms: in an instant he became a child, then a moment later an old man, and at other times a young man. He changed both his face and his stature into various shapes, raving like a madman, with the devil as his servant. Nero, seeing this, supposed him to be truly the Son of God. But the Apostle Peter showed him to be a liar and a sorcerer, base, godless, and apostate, opposed in every way to the truth of God, and declared that nothing remained now but for his wickedness to be made plain by God's command and exposed before them all.

Then Simon went in to Nero and said: Hear me, good emperor. I am the Son of God, come down from heaven. Until now I have put up with Peter alone calling himself an apostle; but now the evil has doubled, for Paul also teaches the same things and, having turned his mind against me, is said to preach alongside him. If you do not arrange for their destruction, it is perfectly clear that your kingdom cannot stand.

Nero, filled with alarm, ordered that they be brought before him without delay. The following day, Simon the Magician and Peter and Paul, the apostles of Christ, came in before Nero. Simon said: These men are disciples of the Nazarene, and it is not at all fitting that they should be counted among the people of the Jews. Nero said: What is a Nazarene? Simon said: There is a city of Judea that has always been opposed to us, called Nazareth, and the teacher of these men came from it. Nero said: God commands us to love every man; why, then, do you persecute them? Simon said: This is a people who have turned all of Judea away from believing in me. Nero said to Peter: Why are you so unbelieving, as your race is? Then Peter said to Simon: You have been able to deceive everyone, but never me. And those who were deceived, God has recalled from their error through me. Since you have learned by experience that you cannot get the better of me, I marvel at the face with which you boast before the emperor and imagine that through your magic art you can overcome the disciples of Christ. Nero said: Who is Christ? Peter said: He is what this Simon the Magician claims to be himself — but Simon is a most wicked man, and his works are of the devil. If you wish to know, good emperor, what took place in Judea concerning Christ, have the dispatches of Pontius Pilate sent to Claudius brought to you, and you will learn everything. Nero ordered them to be fetched and read aloud in their presence, and they ran as follows:

Pontius Pilate to Claudius, greeting. There has lately occurred an event in which I myself was involved. For the Jews, through envy, have brought dreadful judgments upon themselves and upon those who come after them. Their fathers had received promises that their God would send them His holy one from heaven, who by right should be called their king, and He had promised to send him to the earth through a virgin. This one, then, came into Judea while I was procurator. And they saw him giving sight to the blind, cleansing lepers, healing paralytics, casting demons out of men, raising the dead, stilling the winds, walking on the waves of the sea, and performing many other wonders, and all the people of the Jews called him the Son of God. Then the chief priests, moved by envy against him, seized him and handed him over to me, and telling one lie after another they said he was a sorcerer who acted against their law. I, having believed that these things were so, had him scourged and handed him over to their will, and they crucified him. After he was buried they set guards over his tomb. But while my soldiers were keeping watch, he rose on the third day. And so inflamed was the wickedness of the Jews against him that they gave money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell people that his disciples stole his body." But the soldiers, having taken the money, could not keep silent about what had happened, for they have testified that they saw him after he had risen, and that they received money from the Jews. I have therefore reported these things so that no one may give a false account of them, and so that you may not suppose that the lies of the Jews deserve to be believed.

And when the letter had been read, Nero said: Tell me, Peter, were all these things done by him as described? Peter said: They were, with your permission, O good emperor. For this Simon is full of lies and deceit, even if it may seem that he is what he is not — a god. In Christ there is all excellent victory, through God and through man, which that incomprehensible glory assumed when it deigned to come to the assistance of men. But in this Simon there are two essences, of man and of devil, and through man he endeavors to ensnare men.

Simon said: I wonder, O good emperor, that you reckon this man of any consequence — a man uneducated, a fisherman of the poorest, endowed with power neither in word nor by rank. But so that I may not long endure him as an enemy, I shall immediately order my angels to come and avenge me upon him. Peter said: I am not afraid of your angels; but they shall be far more afraid of me, in the power and trust of my Lord Jesus Christ, whom you falsely declare yourself to be.

Nero said: Are you not afraid, Peter, of Simon, who confirms his godhead by deeds? Peter said: Godhead belongs to him who searches the hidden things of the heart. Now then, tell me what I am thinking about, or what I am doing. I will disclose to your servants who are here what my thought is, before he tells lies about it, so that he may not dare to lie about what I am thinking. Nero said: Come here, then, and tell me what you are thinking about. Peter said: Order a barley loaf to be brought and given to me secretly. And when Nero ordered it to be brought and secretly given to Peter, Peter said: Now tell us, Simon, what has been thought about, or what said, or what done.

Nero said: Do you mean me to believe that Simon does not know these things — he who raised a dead man, who presented himself on the third day after he had been beheaded, and who has done whatever he said he would do? Peter said: But he did not do it before me. Nero said: But he did all these things before me. For he ordered angels to come to him, and they came. Peter said: If he has done what is very great, why does he not do what is very small? Let him tell what I had in my mind, and what I have done. Nero said: Between the two of you, I do not know what to think myself. Simon said: Let Peter say what I am thinking of, or what I am doing. Peter said: What Simon has in his mind I shall show that I know, by doing what he is thinking about. Simon said: Know this, O emperor, that no one knows the thoughts of men but God alone. Is not Peter therefore lying? Peter said: You, then, who say that you are the Son of God, tell me what I have in my mind; disclose, if you can, what I have just done in secret. For Peter, having blessed the barley loaf he had received and broken it with his right hand and his left, had heaped the pieces up in his sleeves. Then Simon, enraged that he was not able to tell the apostle's secret, cried out, saying: Let great dogs come forth and eat him up before Caesar. And suddenly great dogs appeared and rushed at Peter. But Peter, stretching forth his hands to pray, showed the dogs the loaf he had blessed; and when the dogs saw it, they vanished. Then Peter said to Nero: Behold, I have shown you that I knew what Simon was thinking of, not by words but by deeds; for he, having promised to bring angels against me, has brought dogs instead, thereby showing that his angels are not godlike but doglike.

Then Nero said to Simon: What is this, Simon? I think we have got the worst of it. Simon said: Both in Judea and in all Palestine and Caesarea this man has done the same to me; and from striving with me so often, he has learned what works against them. This, then, is something he has learned — how to escape me; for the thoughts of men no one knows but God alone. And Peter said to Simon: You certainly pretend to be a god; why, then, do you not reveal the thoughts of every man?

Then Nero, turning to Paul, said: Why do you say nothing, Paul? Paul answered and said: Know this, O emperor, that if you permit this magician to continue doing such things, it will bring the greatest mischief upon your country and will bring your empire down from its position. Nero said to Simon: What do you say to this? Simon said: If I do not openly hold myself out to be a god, no one will give me the reverence that is due to me. Nero said: And now, why do you delay? Show yourself to be a god, so that these men may be put to shame and punished. Simon said: Give orders to build me a tall tower of wood, and I, going up upon it, will call my angels and order them to take me, in the sight of all, to my father in heaven. These men, being unable to do this, will be exposed as the uneducated men they are. And Nero said to Peter: Have you heard, Peter, what Simon has said? From this it will appear how much power either he or your God possesses. Peter said: O most mighty emperor, if you were willing to see clearly, you would perceive that he is full of demons. Nero said: Why do you speak to me in such roundabout ways? Tomorrow will prove everything.

Simon said: Do you believe, O good emperor, that I, who was dead and rose again, am a magician? For it had come about through his own cleverness that the unbelieving Simon had said to Nero: Order me to be beheaded in a dark place and left there slain; and if I do not rise on the third day, know that I am a magician; but if I rise again, know that I am the Son of God.

And Nero having ordered this, Simon used his magic art in the darkness to arrange that a ram should be beheaded in his place. The ram continued to appear as Simon until it was beheaded. And when it had been beheaded in the dark, the man who had done the beheading took up the head and found it to be that of a ram; but he said nothing to the emperor, fearing to be scourged for what had been done in secret. Thereafter Simon declared that he had risen on the third day, for he had taken away the head of the ram and its limbs, while the blood had congealed on the spot; and on the third day he showed himself to Nero and said: Cause my blood that was poured out to be wiped away; for behold, having been beheaded as I promised, I have risen again on the third day.

And when Nero said, "Tomorrow will prove you," he turned to Paul and said: "You, Paul, why do you say nothing? Who taught you, and who is your master? How have you taught in the cities, and what has happened through your teaching? I think you have no wisdom and are unable to accomplish any work of power."

Paul answered: "Do you suppose I ought to speak against a desperate man, a magician who has given his soul up to death, whose destruction and ruin will come swiftly? The one who ought to speak is the one who pretends to be what he is not and deceives men by magic art. If you consent to hear his words and shield him, you will destroy your soul and your kingdom, for he is a most base man. Just as the Egyptians Jannes and Jambres led Pharaoh and his army astray until they were swallowed up in the sea, so this man, through the instruction of his father the devil, persuades men to do great evil to themselves, and in this way deceives many of the innocent, to the peril of your kingdom. As for the word of the devil, which I see has been poured out through this man, I am wrestling with the Holy Spirit with groaning of heart, that it may be clearly shown for what it is; for as high as he seems to raise himself toward heaven, so far will he be sunk down into the depths of Hades, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. As for the teaching of my Master, of which you asked me — none attain it except the pure, who allow faith to come into their heart. All things that belong to peace and love, these I have taught. From Jerusalem and as far as Illyricum I have fulfilled the word of peace. I have taught that in honor men should prefer one another. I have taught the eminent and the rich not to be lifted up or to place their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but to place their hope in God. I have taught those in a middle station to be content with food and clothing. I have taught the poor to rejoice in their poverty. I have taught fathers to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord, and children to obey their parents in wholesome discipline. I have taught wives to love their own husbands and to respect them as their masters, and husbands to keep faith with their wives. I have taught masters to treat their slaves with kindness, and slaves to serve their masters faithfully. I have taught the congregations of believers to worship one almighty, invisible, and incomprehensible God. And this teaching was given to me not from men, nor through men, but through Jesus Christ, who spoke to me out of heaven, who also sent me to preach, saying to me: Go forth, for I will be with you, and everything you say or do I will make right."

Nero said: "What do you say, Peter?" He answered: "Everything Paul has said is true. When he was a persecutor of the faith of Christ, a voice called him out of heaven and taught him the truth; for he was not an enemy of our faith out of hatred, but out of ignorance. Before us there had come false Christs, like Simon, false apostles, and false prophets, who set themselves against the sacred writings to make the truth void; and against these it was necessary to have in readiness this man, who from his youth had devoted himself to nothing else but searching out the mysteries of the divine law, so that he might become a defender of truth and a persecutor of falsehood. Since his persecution arose not from hatred but from zeal for the law, the very truth out of heaven spoke with him, saying: I am the truth which you persecute; stop persecuting me. When he understood that this was so, he abandoned what he had been defending and began to defend this way of Christ which he had been persecuting."

Simon said: "O good emperor, take notice that these two have conspired against me; for I am the truth, and they intend evil against me." Peter said: "There is no truth in you; everything you say is false."

Nero said: "Paul, what do you say?" Paul said: "What you have heard from Peter, take as having been said by me also; for we are of one mind, for we have the same Lord Jesus Christ." Simon said: "Do you expect me, O good emperor, to argue with these men who have come to an agreement against me?" And turning to the apostles of Christ, he said: "Listen, Peter and Paul: if I can do nothing here against you, we are going to the place where I must judge you." Paul said: "O good emperor, see what threats he holds out against us." Peter said: "Why should we hold back from laughing outright at a foolish man, made the sport of demons, who supposes that he cannot be exposed?"

Simon said: "I spare you until I have received my power." Paul said: "Let us see whether you leave this place safely." Peter said: "Simon, if you do not see the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, you will never stop believing yourself to be Christ." Simon said: "Most sacred emperor, do not believe them, for they are circumcised knaves." Paul said: "Before we knew the truth, we had the circumcision of the flesh; but when the truth appeared, we are both circumcised in the circumcision of the heart, and we circumcise others." Peter said: "If circumcision is a disgrace, why have you yourself been circumcised, Simon?"

Nero said: "Has Simon also been circumcised?" Peter said: "He could not otherwise have deceived souls, unless he had pretended to be a Jew and made a show of teaching the law of God." Nero said: "Simon, I see that you are driven by envy and persecute these men. It seems there is great hatred between you and their Christ, and I am afraid you will be worsted by them and brought to great ruin." Simon said: "You are being led astray, O emperor." Nero said: "How am I led astray? I say only what I see. And what I see is that you are plainly an enemy of Peter and Paul and their master."

Simon said: Christ was not Paul's master. Paul said: Yes — through revelation He taught me as well. But answer what I asked you: why were you circumcised? Simon said: Why do you ask me that? Paul said: We have a reason for asking. Nero said: Why are you afraid to answer them? Simon said: Listen, O emperor. At the time I received circumcision, God had commanded it. That is why I was circumcised.

Paul said: Do you hear, good emperor, what Simon has just said? If circumcision is such a good thing, then why have you, Simon, abandoned those who were circumcised and had them condemned and put to death? Nero said: I see nothing good about you either. Peter and Paul said: Whether your opinion of us is good or evil is beside the point; what matters to us is that what our Master promised must come to pass. Nero said: And if I am unwilling? Peter said: Not as you will, but as He promised us.

Simon said: Good emperor, these men have presumed upon your clemency and made you their prisoner. Nero said: And you have not yet made me certain about yourself. Simon said: After so many excellent deeds and signs I have shown you, I am astonished that you can still be in doubt. Nero said: I neither doubt nor favor any of you; simply answer what I ask.

Simon said: From this point on I will answer you nothing. Nero said: You say that because you are a liar. But if I can do nothing to you, God, who can, will do it. Simon said: I will answer you no more. Nero said: Nor do I count you as anything; for, as I can see, you are a liar in everything. But why say so much? All three of you show that your reasoning is uncertain, and in everything you have left me in doubt, so that I find I can give credit to none of you.

Peter said: We preach one God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them — He is the true King, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Nero said: What king is lord? Paul said: The Savior of all the nations. Simon said: I am he of whom you speak. Peter and Paul said: May it never go well with you, Simon — magician, full of bitterness.

Simon said: Listen, Caesar Nero, so that you may know these men are liars and that I have been sent from heaven. Tomorrow I will ascend into heaven, to bless those who believe in me and to show my wrath upon those who have denied me. Peter and Paul said: God called us long ago to His own glory; but you, called by the devil, are rushing toward your punishment. Simon said: Caesar Nero, listen to me. Send these madmen away from you, so that when I go up to heaven to my Father, I may be very merciful to you. Nero said: And how shall we have proof that you go up into heaven? Simon said: Order a tall tower to be built of wood and great beams, and I will climb to the top of it, and my angels will meet me in the air — for they cannot come to me on earth, among sinners. Nero said: I will see whether you fulfill what you say.

Nero then ordered a tall tower to be built in the Campus Martius, and commanded all the people and the dignitaries to be present at the spectacle. The following day, when the whole multitude had gathered, Nero ordered Peter and Paul to be brought forward, and said to them: Now the truth must be made plain. Peter and Paul said: We do not expose him — our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom he has falsely claimed to be, exposes him.

Paul turned to Peter and said: My part is to kneel and pray to God; yours is to act, if you see him attempting anything, because the Lord first took you in hand. And Paul knelt and prayed. Peter fixed his gaze on Simon and said: Do what you have set out to do, for your exposure and our calling are both at hand — I see my Christ summoning both me and Paul. Nero said: And where will you go against my will? Peter said: Wherever our Lord has called us. Nero said: And who is your lord? Peter said: Jesus the Christ, whom I see calling us to Himself. Nero said: Do you also intend to go away to heaven? Peter said: If it so pleases Him who calls us. Simon said: So that you may know, O emperor, that these men are deceivers — the moment I ascend into heaven I will send my angels to you and have you brought to me. Nero said: Do at once what you say.

Then Simon climbed to the top of the tower before everyone, and, crowned with laurels, he stretched out his hands and began to fly. When Nero saw him flying, he said to Peter: This Simon is genuine; you and Paul are the deceivers. Peter answered: In a moment you will know that we are the true disciples of Christ, and that he is not Christ but a magician and a criminal. Nero said: Do you still persist? Look — you can see him going up into heaven. Then Peter looked steadily at Paul and said: Paul, look up and see. Paul looked up, his eyes full of tears, and seeing Simon flying, said: Peter, why do you hold back? Finish what you have begun — already our Lord Jesus Christ is calling us. Nero heard them and smiled slightly and said: These men can see they are beaten and have lost their minds. Peter said: Now you will know that we are not mad. Paul said to Peter: Do at once what you are going to do.

Peter fixed his gaze on Simon and said: I adjure you, you angels of Satan who are carrying him through the air to deceive the hearts of unbelievers — by the God who created all things, and by Jesus Christ whom He raised from the dead on the third day — hold him up no longer from this moment, but let him go. And immediately, released, Simon fell into a place called the Sacra Via — that is, the Holy Way — and was broken into four parts, meeting a wretched end.

Then Nero ordered Peter and Paul to be put in irons, and the body of Simon to be carefully kept for three days, thinking that he would rise on the third day. Peter said to him: He will no longer rise, since he is truly dead, condemned to everlasting punishment. Nero said: Who commanded you to do such a dreadful deed? Peter said: His own arrogance and blasphemy against my Lord Jesus Christ have brought him into this gulf of destruction. Nero said: I will destroy you by a terrible death. Peter said: That is not in your power, even if it should seem good to you to destroy us; but what our Master promised us must be fulfilled.

Then Nero, having summoned Agrippa the procurator, said to him: Men who introduce harmful religious practices must die. Therefore I order them to be beaten with iron clubs and killed in the sea-fight. Agrippa the procurator said: Most sacred emperor, what you have ordered is not fitting for these men, since Paul seems innocent compared to Peter. Nero said: By what manner of death, then, shall they die? Agrippa answered: It seems just to me that Paul's head should be cut off, and that Peter should be raised on a cross as the one responsible for the murder. Nero said: You have judged excellently.

Then both Peter and Paul were led away from the presence of Nero. And Paul was beheaded on the Ostian road.

And Peter, having come to the cross, said: Since my Lord Jesus Christ, who came down from heaven to earth, was raised upon the cross upright, and he has deigned to call to heaven me, who am of the earth, my cross ought to be fixed head downward, so as to direct my feet toward heaven; for I am not worthy to be crucified in the same manner as my Lord. Then, having reversed the cross, they nailed his feet up.

And the crowd assembled, reviling Caesar and wishing to kill him. But Peter restrained them, saying: A few days ago, urged by the brethren, I was going away; and my Lord Jesus Christ met me, and having worshipped him, I said, Lord, where are you going? And he said to me, I am going to Rome to be crucified. And I said to him, Lord, were you not crucified once for all? And the Lord answered, I saw you fleeing from death, and I wish to be crucified in your place. And I said, Lord, I go; I will fulfill your command. And he said to me, Fear not, for I am with you. For this reason, then, children, do not hinder my going; for already my feet are on the road to heaven. Do not grieve, therefore, but rather rejoice with me, for today I receive the fruit of my labors. And having spoken thus, he said: I thank you, good Shepherd, that the sheep you have entrusted to me share in my suffering; I ask, then, that with me they may have a part in your kingdom. And having spoken these words, he gave up his spirit.

And immediately there appeared men glorious and strange in appearance, and they said: We are here on account of the holy and chief apostles, sent from Jerusalem. And they, together with Marcellus, an illustrious man who had left Simon and believed in Peter, took up his body secretly and placed it under the terebinth near the place for the exhibition of sea-fights, in the place called the Vatican.

And the men who had said they came from Jerusalem said to the people: Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for you have been counted worthy to have great champions. And know that Nero himself, within not many days, will be utterly destroyed, and his kingdom given to another.

And after these things the people revolted against him; and when he learned of it, he fled into desolate places, and there through hunger and cold he gave up his spirit, and his body became food for wild beasts.

And some devout men from the regions of the East wished to carry off the relics of the saints, and immediately there was a great earthquake in the city. The inhabitants of the city, becoming aware of it, ran and seized the men, but they fled. The Romans, however, took the relics and placed them in a location three miles from the city, where they were guarded for a year and seven months, until they had built the place in which they intended to lay them. And after these things, all the people assembled with glory and singing of praise, and placed them in the place that had been built for them.

The passing of the holy and glorious Apostles Peter and Paul took place on the twenty-ninth day of the month of June, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and strength.

Now as Paul was being led away to be beheaded at a place about three miles from the city, he was in irons, and there were three soldiers guarding him who were of noble family. When they had gone out of the gate about the length of a bowshot, a God-fearing woman met them; and she, seeing Paul dragged along in irons, had compassion on him and wept bitterly. The woman's name was Perpetua, and she had only one eye. Paul, seeing her weeping, said to her: Give me your handkerchief, and when I return I shall give it back to you. She took the handkerchief and gave it to him willingly. The soldiers laughed and said to the woman: Why do you wish to lose your handkerchief? Do you not know that he is going to be beheaded? Perpetua said to them: I adjure you by the health of Caesar to bind his eyes with this handkerchief when you cut off his head. And so it was done. They beheaded him at the place called Aquae Salviae, near the pine tree. And as God had willed, before the soldiers returned, the handkerchief, bearing drops of blood upon it, was restored to the woman. And as she was carrying it, her eye was immediately and at once opened.

And the three soldiers who had cut off the head of Saint Paul came back that same day after three hours, bringing it in a sealed pouch to Nero, and on the way they met Perpetua and said to her: What is this, woman? By your confidence you have lost your handkerchief. But she said to them: I have both recovered my handkerchief and my eye has regained its sight. And as the Lord, the God of Paul, lives, I have also entreated him that I may be counted worthy to become a servant of his Lord. Then the soldiers, who had the sealed pouch, recognized the handkerchief and saw that her eye had been opened, and they cried out with a loud voice as if from one mouth and said: We too are the servants of Paul's master. Perpetua then went and reported in the palace of the Emperor Nero that the soldiers who had beheaded Paul were saying: We will no longer enter the city, for we believe in Christ whom Paul preached, and we are Christians. Then Nero, filled with rage, ordered Perpetua, who had brought him this report, to be kept fast in irons; and as for the soldiers, he ordered one to be beheaded outside the gate about a mile from the city, another to be cut in two, and the third to be stoned. And Perpetua was held in prison; and in this same prison there was kept a noble maiden named Potentiana, because she had said: I forsake my parents and all my father's wealth, and I wish to become a Christian. She therefore joined herself to Perpetua and learned from her everything about Paul, and was filled with great longing for faith in Christ. Now the wife of Nero was Potentiana's sister, and she secretly told her about Christ, that those who believe in him see everlasting joy, and that everything here is temporary while there it is eternal; so that she too fled out of the palace, and some of the senators' wives with her. Then Nero, having inflicted many tortures upon Perpetua, at last tied a great stone to her neck and ordered her to be thrown over a precipice. And her remains lie at the Momentan gate. And Potentiana also endured many torments; and at last, one day, they built a furnace and burned her.