Selecta Martyrum Acta

The trials and deaths of the early martyrs, from the reign of Hadrian to the persecution of Diocletian, as the ancient acts of the Church record them.

Jean-Joseph Gaume's Selecta martyrum acta (1857) gathers the acts and passions of the martyrs for students: the questions of Roman magistrates and the answers of the Christians before them, often in the words of the court record itself. In keeping with the natural method, every long vowel is marked, and the notes in the margin are entirely in Latin. Harder words are explained by the words they come from, by words of like meaning, or by a short sentence from the Vulgate or another classic text.

With twelve engravings by Jacques Callot, Antonio Tempesta and others, a frontispiece after Raphael, an index of names and an index of words.

For readers who have finished their first Latin reader and want more comprehensible input, for homeschool and classroom use, and for Catholics who wish to read the Church's Latin with ease.