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Audiobook edition · 48 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 32 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 32 pagesAbout this book
What can a governor do when the prisoner he wants to silence refuses to fear him?
In this early Christian account, Andrew preaches in Patras, where his message reaches Maximilla, the wife of the Roman governor Aegeates. She becomes a believer and chooses a new life. For her husband, that change threatens both his household and his authority over the city.
Aegeates demands that Andrew stop teaching, abandon his God and sacrifice to the empire’s gods. Andrew will not yield. Built around forceful speeches, The Martyrdom of Andrew belongs to the apocryphal acts: devotional stories about the apostles beyond the New Testament. Here, a clash of loyalties draws a whole city into tension.
What you’ll discover
- A prisoner who stands firm Meet the story’s Andrew, whose steady calm challenges a governor’s power to command obedience.
- Maximilla’s costly choice Follow a wife whose new belief puts her at odds with her powerful husband.
- A city drawn in Watch the crowd of Patras respond as Andrew’s treatment stirs anger, fear and sorrow.
- Speeches that carry the struggle Explore a narrative where spoken words, more than action, bring the central conflict to life.
- Faith against fear Consider how this devotional account links courage with the belief that death is not final.
Who will love it
Readers drawn to early Christian tales, saints and martyrs, Roman provincial settings, or duels between persuasive teachers and powerful rulers will love this account. It also suits those curious about apostolic stories born after the New Testament.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The New Testament leaves Andrew's death untold
- Andrew meets the governor with an invitation
- Andrew argues that Jesus chose the cross freely
- The cross answers the tree of the first man
- A night in prison calms a crowd on the edge of revolt
- Andrew greets the cross as an old friend
- The hanging apostle teaches and the crowd turns
- Power, fear and truth meet in two men
Who’s who
- AndrewThe apostle and brother of Peter, who confronts the proconsul in Patras and teaches that the cross is a mystery of restoration.
- AegeatesThe Roman proconsul of Achaia, who forces believers to worship idols and fears the loss of his temples and his authority.
- StratoclesA follower of Andrew, and brother of the proconsul, who asks why the apostle smiles on the cross.
- MaximillaThe proconsul's wife, who belongs to the Christian community and stands among the believers at the cross.
- The crowd of PatrasAbout twenty thousand believers and townspeople who listen to Andrew for days and press the governor to free him.
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The Martyrdom of Andrew
by Attributed to various early Christian authors · 200
An apostle walks up to his own cross and greets it like a friend after a Roman proconsul orders his execution.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to readEnglish
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“If I had been afraid of the cross, I would never have proclaimed its glory.”
In short
What would you do if a Roman governor ordered you to worship idols or face the cross, and you answered by praising the cross? That is how The Martyrdom of Andrew begins.
The Martyrdom of Andrew at a glance
- Reading time
- About 20 min15 min fast, 20 min slow
- Length
- 4,350 words8 chapters
- Pages
- 32 pages
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- about AD 200by Attributed to various early Christian authors
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The New Testament leaves Andrew's death untold
The New Testament shows Andrew as the brother of Peter and one of the first disciples of Jesus. Then it lets him drop from view. It says nothing about how his life ended. Early Christians wanted to know, and stories of his last days in Patras grew up to answer them.
The fullest early source is the Acts of Andrew, written in Greek, most likely in the late second or the third century. As a whole, it is lost. Scholars rebuild it from fragments and from a short Latin summary by Gregory of Tours, a sixth-century bishop. The text followed here is the passion account alone. It belongs to a tradition preserved in fragments, translations, summaries and later retellings. It names the day of the events as the thirtieth of November, when several churches still keep his feast.
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Details
- First published
- 200
- Language
- English
- Listening time
- 48 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 32 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 32 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives Fri 13 Nov to Thu 19 Novto United States, printed for you at cost
For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
The Martyrdom of Andrew. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-martyrdom-of-andrew.
The martyrdom of Andrew. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-martyrdom-of-andrew (Original work published ca. 200)
The Martyrdom of Andrew. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-martyrdom-of-andrew.
@book{anonymous2026martyrdom,
title = {The Martyrdom of Andrew},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-martyrdom-of-andrew},
note = {First published ca. 200}
}
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What is The Martyrdom of Andrew about?
It tells of the apostle Andrew's last days in Patras. He debates the Roman proconsul Aegeates about the cross, endures prison and a beating, goes willingly to the cross, and keeps teaching a crowd while he hangs there.
Who was Aegeates in the Passion of Andrew?
Aegeates is the Roman proconsul of Achaia who arrives in Patras and forces Christians to worship the idols. He argues with Andrew, threatens him, and has him tortured, and the text shows him as fearful as well as cruel.
Is the Martyrdom of Andrew in the Bible?
No. The New Testament does not describe how Andrew died. This story comes from the apocryphal Acts of Andrew tradition, which early church leaders did not place among the books read in worship, though many communities valued it.
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