E05669: John Malalas in his Chronographia mentions the martyrdom of *Ignatios (bishop of Antioch, S00649), Five Female Martyrs (S02138), and *Drosis (martyr of Antioch, S01189) under Trajan (r. 98-117). Written in Greek at Antioch (Syria) or Constantinople, in the mid-6th c.

John Malalas, Chronographia, 11.10

Ἐμαρτύρησε δὲ ἐπὶ αὐτοῦ τότε ὁ ἅγιος Ἰγνάτιος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος τῆς πόλεως Ἀντιοχείας· ἠγανάκτησε γὰρ κατ’ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐλοιδόρει αὐτόν. συνέσχεν δὲ τότε καὶ πέντε ὀνόματα χριστιανῶν γυναικῶν Ἀντιοχισσῶν καὶ ἐξέτασεν αὐτὰς λέγων· ‘τίς ἐστιν ἡ ἐλπὶς ὑμῶν, ὅτι οὕτως ἐκδίδοτε ἑαυτὰς εἰς θάνατον;’ αἱ δὲ ἀπεκρίθησαν λέγουσαι, ὅτι· ‘φονευομένας ἡμᾶς παρ’ ὑμῶν ἀνίστασθαι ἡμᾶς πάλιν ὡς ἔχομεν σώματι εἰς αἰωνίαν ζωήν.’ καὶ ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὰς πυρικαύστους γενέσθαι καὶ τὸν χοῦν τῶν ὀστέων αὐτῶν συνέμιξε χαλκῷ καὶ ἐποίησε τὸν χαλκὸν εἰς ὃ ἐποίησε δημόσιον χαλκία τοῦ θερμοῦ. καὶ ὅτε ἤρξατο παρέχειν τὸ δημόσιον, εἴ τις ἐὰν ἐλούετο εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ δημόσιον, ἐσκοτοῦτο καὶ ἔπιπτεν καὶ ἐξήρχετο βασταγμῷ. καὶ μαθὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς Τραϊανὸς τοῦτο, ἤλλαξε τὰ αὐτὰ χαλκία καὶ ἐποίησεν ἄλλα ἀπὸ καθαροῦ χαλκοῦ, λέγων ὅτι· ‘οὐ καλῶς ἐποίησα χοῦν σωμάτων συμμίξας αὐτοῖς καὶ κοινώσας τὰ θερμὰ ὕδατα.’ ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγεν, ἐπειδὴ οἱ χριστιανοὶ ὑπώξιζον τοῖς Ἕλλησι καυχώμενοι. τὰ δὲ πρῶτα χαλκία ἀναχωνεύσας ἐποίησε στήλας χαλκᾶς πέντε ταῖς αὐταῖς γυναιξί, λέγων ὅτι· ‘ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ αὐτὰς ἀνέστησα καθὼς εἶπον καὶ οὐχὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτῶν.’ αἵτινες στῆλαι εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ δημόσιον λουτρὸν ἵστανται ἕως ἄρτι. ἐποίησε δὲ καὶ κάμινον πυρός, καὶ ἐκέλευσε τοὺς βουλομένους χριστιανοὺς βάλλειν ἑαυτοὺς ἐν προθέσει. καὶ πολλοὶ ἔβαλλον ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἐμαρτύρησαν. ἐμαρτύρησε δὲ τότε ἡ ἁγία Δροσινὴ καὶ ἄλλαι παρθένοι πολλαί.

’11. 10. Saint Ignatios, the bishop of the city of Antioch, was martyred then during Trajan's visit, for he incurred the emperor's anger through abusing him.

At that time Trajan also arrested five persons, Christian women of Antioch, and interrogated them, saying, "What is your hope, that you give yourselves up to death like this?" In reply they said, "When we are killed by you, we shall rise again in the body, as we are, to eternal life". He ordered them to be burned and he mixed the ashes from their bones with bronze, and from this metal he made hot water vessels in the public bath that he had constructed. When the bath came into use, anyone who went to bathe in the bath became dizzy and fell down and had to be carried out. When the emperor Trajan learned this he replaced those bronze vessels and made others of pure bronze, saying, "It was not right of me to mix in the ashes from their bodies and to pollute the hot water". He said this since the Christians had become strident in boasting against the Hellenes. He melted down the original bronze vessels and made five bronze statues of the women, saying, "Look, it is I who have resurrected them as they said, and not their god". These statues are standing at that public bath to the present. He also made a fiery furnace and ordered any Christian who wished to throw himself into it deliberately. Many threw themselves in and became martyrs. It was at this time that Saint Drosine and many other virgins were martyred.’

Text: Thurn 2000. Translation Jeffreys, Jeffreys, and Scott 1986.