E04014: Socrates in his Ecclesiastical History reports that in 415 Cyril of Alexandria attempted to proclaim the monk *Ammonios, who died under torture after an assault on the prefect of Egypt, a martyr under the name 'Thaumasios' (S01541). The cult proves unpopular and is forgotten. Written in Greek at Constantinople, 439/446.

Socrates, Ecclesiastical History, 7.14

1. Τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τῆς Νιτρίας μοναχῶν τινες ἔνθερμον ἔχοντες φρόνημα ἀπὸ Θεοφίλου ἀρξάμενοι, ὅτε αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τῶν περὶ Διόσκορον ἀδίκως ἐξώπλισε, ζῆλόν τε τότε κτησάμενοι προθύμως καὶ ὑπὲρ Κυρίλλου μάχεσθαι προῃροῦντο. 2. Ἀφέμενοι οὖν τῶν μοναστηρίων ἄνδρες περὶ τοὺς πεντακοσίους καὶ καταλαβόντες τὴν πόλιν ἐπιτηροῦσιν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀχήματος προϊόντα τὸν ἔπαρχον, 3. καὶ προσελθόντες ἀπεκάλουν θύτην καὶ Ἕλληνα καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ περιύβριζον. 4. Ὁ δὲ ὑποτοπήσας σκευωρίαν αὐτῷ παρὰ Κυρίλλου γενέσθαι ἐβόα Χριστιανός τε εἶναι καὶ ὑπὸ Ἀττικοῦ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει βεβαπτίσθαι. 5. Ὡς δὲ οὐ προσεῖχον τοῖς λεγομένοις οἱ μοναχοί, εἷς τις ἐξ αὐτῶν Ἀμμώνιος ὄνομα λίθῳ βάλλει τὸν Ὀρέστην κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς. 6. Καὶ πληροῦται μὲν αἵματι ὅλος ἐκ τοῦ τραύματος, ὑποχωροῦσι δὲ οἱ ταξεῶται πλὴν ὀλίγων, ἄλλος ἀλλαχοῦ ἐν τῷ πλήθει διαδύναντες, τὸν ἐκ τῆς βολῆς τῶν λίθων θάνατον φυλαττόμενοι. 7. Ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ συνέρρεον οἱ τῶν Ἀλεξανδρέων δῆμοι, ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς μοναχοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἐπάρχου προθυμούμενοι. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους πάντας εἰς φυγὴν ἔτρεψαν, τὸν Ἀμμώνιον δὲ συλλαβόντες παρὰ τὸν ἔπαρχον ἄγουσιν· 8. ὃς δημοσίᾳ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἐξετάσει αὐτὸν ὑποβαλὼν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐβασάνισεν, ὡς ἀποκτεῖναι. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ καὶ τὰ γενόμενα γνώριμα τοῖς κρατοῦσιν κατέστησεν. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ Κύριλλος τὰ ἐναντία ἐγνώριζεν βασιλεῖ, 9. τοῦ δὲ Ἀμμωνίου τὸ σῶμα ἀναλαβὼν καὶ ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀποθέμενος, ὄνομα ἕτερον αὐτῷ ἐπιθεὶς Θαυμάσιον ἐπεκάλεσεν καὶ μάρτυρα χρηματίζειν ἐκέλευσεν, ἐγκωμιάζων αὐτοῦ ἐπ’ ἐκκλησίας τὸ φρόνημα ὡς ἀγῶνα ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἀνελομένου. 10. Ἀλλ’ οἱ εὖ φρονοῦντες, καίπερ Χριστιανοὶ ὄντες, οὐκ ἀπεδέχοντο τὴν περὶ τούτου Κυρίλλου σπουδήν· 11. ἠπίσταντο γὰρ προπετείας δίκην δεδωκέναι τὸν Ἀμμώνιον, οὐ μὴν ἀνάγκῃ ἀρνήσεως Χριστοῦ ἐναποθανεῖν ταῖς βασάνοις. Διὸ καὶ Κύριλλος κατὰ βραχὺ τῷ ἡσυχάζειν λήθην τοῦ γινομένου εἰργάσατο.

'Some hot-headed monks among those inhabiting the mounts of Nitria, whom Theophilos some time before had unjustly armed against the followers of Dioskoros, were again possessed by ardent zeal and decided to fight for Cyril. Thus about five hundred of them left their monasteries, came to the city, and waited for the prefect to show up on his chariot. They approached him, calling him an idolater and a pagan, and inflicting him with several other abusive epithets. He suspected that this was a plot against him by Cyril, and exclaimed that he was a Christian and had been baptised by Atticus the bishop in Constantinople. Yet the monks paid no attention to his words, and one of them named Ammonios hurled a stone onto Orestes' head. He was completely covered with blood from the wound, while his guards, with a few exceptions, dispersed, slipping into the crowd, one here, another there, fleeing death from the stones. Meanwhile, the demes of Alexandria hastened to repel the monks and rescue the prefect. They thus put them all to flight, but arrested Ammonios and delivered him to the prefect. The latter subjected him to public torture according to the law, but had him so severely tormented that he caused him to die. With no delay, he reported the events to the sovereigns. Yet Cyril also wrote to the emperor, reporting quite the opposite things, and had the body of Ammonios collected and buried at one of the churches. He then changed his name, calling him Thaumasios ('Wonderful'), and ordered that he be regarded as a martyr, praising in church his zeal as a man fallen in struggle for the true religion. Yet the sound-minded, even if they were Christians, did not share Cyril's enthusiasm for him. For they knew well that he had been punished for his insolence and that he had not lost his life in torture intended to make him deny Christ. For the same reason, Cyril himself allowed the affair to be gradually forgotten, by keeping quiet about it.’

Text: Hansen 1995.
Translation: E. Rizos.