The Martyrdom of Polycarp

The devil did indeed invent many things against them; but thanks be to God, he could not prevail over all. For the most noble Germanicus strengthened the timidity of others by his own patience and fought heroically with the wild beasts. When the proconsul tried to persuade him and urged him to have pity on his age, he attracted the wild beast towards himself and provoked it, wanting to escape all the more quickly from an unrighteous and impious world. But at this, the whole multitude, marveling at the nobility of mind displayed by the devout and godly race of Christians, cried out, “Away with the Atheists; let Polycarp be sought out!”