Not content with this, the inhuman mob loaded the mutilated bodies of the slain men upon camels and carried them to the shore there they burned them on a fire and threw the ashes into the sea, fearing (as they shouted) that their relics might be collected and a tomb built for them, as for others who, when urged to abandon their religion, endured terrible tortures, even going so far as to meet a glorious death with unsullied faith whence they are now called martyrs. The fourth-century historian Ammianus Marcellinus reported the disposal of the victims’ corpses as follows: The outrageous crowd then set the bodies (as well as those of the camels) on fire and cast the ashes into the sea. After approximately one month, the people dragged George and his fellow imperial officers, Diodorus and Dracontius, through every part of the city, murdered them, flung their corpses onto camels and carried them to the shore. However, after the emperor’s death on 3 November 361, the Alexandrian people imprisoned George due to their disapproval of his tyrannical and coercive acts. On 24 December 361 CE, the people of Alexandria brutally murdered George of Cappadocia, who was appointed as the city’s bishop by Emperor Constantius II in 357. Despite Ammianus being not a Christian himself, his account reflects the images of the cruel pagans fabricated by Christians, thus allowing us to acknowledge the Christianised view of pagans in the work of the last great Latin historian. Third, his text exposed a somewhat ruthless image of pagans as presented by Christian authors such as Prudentius. Regarding fourth-century Alexandria, it is impossible to find any evidence that refers to such an attempt. Second, Ammianus’ report that the intention of the people was to defile the victims’ remains is highly contested. Instead, everyone who had suffered from the tyranny of George could be possible assailants. First, an examination of the sources regarding the murderers of George found that the Alexandrian crowd did not only consist of pagans.
This paper focused on three main issues regarding the brutal murder of George of Cappadocia on 24 December 361 CE in Alexandria and the question of whether the “pagans” attempted to prevent the cult of the martyr.
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