Volume I of Herbert Musurillo's critical editions, with translations and commentaries, of ancient martyr literature, surveys the development of the genre, discussing the political and historical background which produced it. These texts were written in the form of court records reporting the trials of Alexandrian heroes punished by the Roman authorities. Anti-Roman and often violently propagandist in tone, they reflect the political tensions experienced by the Greeks under German rule.

• VOLUME I


• Symbols and Abbreviations


• I. The Texts


• I. PSI 1160: The 'Boule Papyrus'


• II. P. Oxy. 1089: The Interview with Flaccus


• III. P. bibl. univ. Giss. 46: The 'Gerousia Acta'


• IV. Acta Isidori


• V A. P. Oxy. Ined.: Acta Diogenis (?)


• V B. P. Fouad 8


• VI. P Rendel Harris: Acta Hermiae (?)


• VII. Acta Maximi


• VIII. P. Oxy. 1242: Acta Hermaisci


• IX A. Acta Pauli et Antonini


• IX B. BGU 341


• IX C. P. R. Univ. Milano (PRUM)


• x. P. Oxy. 2177: Acta Athendori


• XI. Acta Appiani


• DUBIOUS AND UNIDENTIFIED FRAGMENTS


• XII. BGU 588


• XIII. P Fayum 217


• XIV. P. Erlangen n. 16


• XV. P. Aberdeen 136


• XVI. P. Bouriant 7


• XVII. P. Oslo. 170


• XVIII. Acta Heracliti


• XIX. P. Rylands 437


• XX-XXI. P. Rendel Harris ined. (a) and (b)


• II. Commentary


• SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES


• The 'Theon-Dionysius Family' (II, P. Oxy. 1089)


• The Penalty (III, P. Giss. 46)


• The Imperial Chancery and the Privy Council (x, P. Oxy. 2177)


• Appendices


• I. Grammatical Observations


• II. The Tradition of the Martyr Literature


• III. Mime, Protocol, and Novel


• IV. The Controversy on the Acta Alexandrinorum


• V. The acta and the Cynics


• Select Bibliography


• Prosopographia


• Indexes A, B: Greek


• Index C: Index to the Commentary and Appendixes