1. The _Acta_, _i.e._ the report of the trial taken down by the notary of the proconsul or procurator (_notarius_, _commentariensis_, and _exceptor_), containing the accusation, the examination, the depositions of the witnesses, the description of the tortures employed and the judgment given. Even in the time of Cicero the evidence of the witnesses was taken down in writing, and during the Empire full reports of both civil and criminal actions were taken and preserved. A proclamation of the Emperor Severus in 194, enjoins that these _acta_ be preserved, and be produced when required for ascertaining the truth. Copies were given for payment to people interested or concerned in the trial. Some of these reports of the trials of the martyrs have come down to us in their original form, and afford the most valuable materials which we possess for the history of early Christian times. The best known are the _Acta Proconsularia S. Cypriani_, along with the acts of Pionius, Maximilian, and Marcellus, etc. 2. _Passiones_, _i.e._ an account of the imprisonment, trial, and execution of the martyrs drawn up by Christian eye-witnesses at the time or immediately afterwards. They are worthy of all credit, for among the Romans legal proceedings took place as a rule in public. It was only under the later emperors that this publicity was so far curtailed that the proceedings were conducted in the basilicas or buildings set apart for that purpose. The earliest and best-known examples of these Passions are the letter of the church of Lyons to the churches of Asia Minor, the _Passio S. Perpetuæ et Felicitatis_, the _Martyrium Polycarpi_, etc. 3. Legends, _i.e._ narratives based upon documents of the nature described above, and worked up by later writers, either for the purpose of edification or from the point of view of a historian. This class of writings is very large, beginning with the account of the martyrdom of St Ignatius. The writings, however, differ endlessly as to their value, according to the knowledge and authority possessed by the writers, and according to their nearness to the date of the events described. There were many martyrs whose sufferings were recorded in no _acta_ or _passiones_, but were imprinted upon the memory of men, and became part of the traditions handed down in the community, until they were finally committed to writing. The later this took place, the worse for the authenticity. For it was then that anachronisms, alterations in titles, changes in the persons, and other similar historical errors could more easily creep into the narrative, as we know, in fact, they have done in many instances. The historical sense was unfortunately lacking to the Franks and Byzantines, as well as all idea of sound criticism.