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Abstract:

The article is devoted to the study of three translations of the Martyrdom of Ascla. This hagiographic text is brief and contains little information about the martyr and about the circumstances of his interrogation and execution. The hagiographer is unknown. The supposed Greek original is missing. The Coptic text is the earliest. In this Martyrdom the persecutor Arian is presented ambiguously. On the one hand, he ordered to torture and then to execute the martyr, on the other hand, Arianus is at least a religious person, mentioning holiness. This trait of persecutor is transmitted only in Coptic Martyrdom. The Latin translation made from a lost Greek text, does not completely match the narrative in the Coptic. Latin author makes a number of little changes. Every change has its explanations. Finally, the third translator, Dimitry of Rostov, used the Latin text and, again without changing the source seriously, made it better from the point of view of unity and logic of the plot. Translations into Latin and Church Slavonic were not changed a lot, most likely because the text was perceived as the ancient Acts of martyrs.