In their days also Melito, bishop of the community in Sardis, and Apolinarius of the one in Hierapolis, flourished conspicuously; and each of these severally addressed apologies on behalf of the faith to the Roman emperor of the times already indicated.
Of these the following works have come to our knowledge: of Melito, the two books On the Passover, and the work On Conduct and the Prophets, and the work On the Church, and the discourse On the Lord's Day; further, the work On the Nature of Man, and that On the Forming of Man, and the work On the Obedience of Faith concerning the Senses; and besides these, the work On Soul and Body, or Mind, and the work On the Bath, and the work On Truth, and that On the Creation and Generation of Christ, and his discourse On Prophecy, and the work On Hospitality, and The Key, and the works On the Devil and On the Apocalypse of John, and the work On the Embodied God; and over and above all, the little book To Antoninus.
Now in the books On the Passover he indicates at the beginning the time at which he was composing them, in these words: 「In the proconsulship of Servilius Paulus over Asia, at the time when Sagaris was martyred, there arose much disputing in Laodicea concerning the Passover, which had fallen due in those days according to the season; and these things were written.」
And of this work Clement of Alexandria makes mention in a treatise of his own On the Passover, which he says he composed as occasioned by the writing of Melito.
And in the book to the emperor he relates that in his time such things as these were done against us: 「For what never happened before, the race of the godly is now persecuted, driven about by new decrees throughout Asia. For the shameless informers and lovers of other men's goods, taking their occasion from the edicts, plainly play the robber, plundering night and day those who have done no wrong.」
And after other things he says: 「And if these things are done at your command, let it be regarded as well done; for a just king would never devise anything unjustly, and we gladly bear the honour of such a death. But this one petition only we present to you: that you yourself, having first acquainted yourself with the workers of such contentiousness, judge justly whether they are worthy of death and punishment, or of safety and quiet. But if this resolve and this new decree—which is not fitting even against barbarian enemies—be not from you, then all the more we beseech you not to overlook us in such public plundering.」
To these things he again adds, saying: 「For our philosophy formerly flourished among the barbarians; but having blossomed among your nations during the great reign of Augustus your ancestor, it became above all an auspicious good to your empire. For from that time the power of the Romans increased to greatness and splendour, of which you have become and shall be the much-prayed-for successor, together with your son, preserving the philosophy that was nursed together with the empire and began its rule with Augustus, which your ancestors also honoured along with the other religions.」
「And this is the greatest proof that our word flourished for good together with the empire that began so well: namely, that nothing evil befell from the rule of Augustus onward, but, on the contrary, all things were splendid and glorious according to the prayers of all.」
「Alone of all men, persuaded by certain malicious persons, Nero and Domitian wished to bring our word into calumny; and from them it came about that the falsehood of slander, by an unreasoning custom, flowed down upon such as us.」
「But your pious fathers corrected their ignorance, often rebuking in writing many who dared to take new measures concerning these things. Among them your grandfather Hadrian appears to have written to many others, and to Fundanus the proconsul, governor of Asia; while your father, when you yourself were administering all things together with him, wrote to the cities that nothing new should be done concerning us—among whom he wrote also to the Larissaeans, and to the Thessalonians, and to the Athenians, and to all the Greeks.」
「And as for you, who hold the same opinion as they concerning these matters—indeed one far more humane and more philosophical—we are persuaded that you will do all that we ask of you.」
But these things are set down in the aforesaid work. And in the Selections that he wrote, the same author, beginning at the very preface, makes a catalogue of the acknowledged Scriptures of the Old Testament, which it is also necessary to recount here.
And he writes thus: 「Melito to his brother Onesimus, greeting. Since you have often desired, in your zeal for the word, to have selections made for you out of the Law and the Prophets concerning the Saviour and concerning all our faith, and since you wished moreover to learn the exact number and order of the ancient books, I have been diligent to do this very thing, knowing your zeal concerning the faith and your love of learning concerning the word, and that above all things you set these before yourself out of longing toward God, contending for eternal salvation.」
「Having therefore gone up to the East, and having come to the place where these things were preached and done, and having exactly learned the books of the Old Testament, I have set them in order and sent them to you. These are their names: of Moses, five—Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy; Joshua son of Nun, Judges, Ruth; of Kingdoms, four; of Chronicles, two; the Psalms of David; the Proverbs of Solomon, which is also Wisdom; Ecclesiastes; the Song of Songs; Job; of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah; the Twelve in one book; Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra. From these I have made the selections, dividing them into six books.」 And so much concerning Melito.