Kerry E. Verrone has published a senior thesis, Mighty Deeds and Miracles by Apa Phoebammon, the Egyptian martyr (Rhode Island, 2002). It is comprised of edition and translation of the Coptic manuscript M582 ff. 21r-30r in the Pierpont Morgan Library.
The work is to be praised. But I have one criticism. M582 is dated to between AD 822 and 913/14. It was written by one Colluthus, and its first part is about the martyrdom of St. Phoebammon. The manuscript clearly states that Phoebammon was executed in the first year of Diocletian’s rule (started in AD 284) on the 1st if the month of Ba’unah. This will put the martyrdom in AD 285. Verrone, however, does not accept that:
[T]his date presents a problem because it was not until AD 304 that Diocletian’s order affected everyone. This, Phoebammon was more likely executed between AD 304 and AD 308.
The fact is that many in the army were purged and executed before the 24 February 303 edict that started the Great Persecution. The persecution of Christians under Diocletian was gradual and geographic until it became massive and total in 303. To deny the persecutions prior to AD 303, and to dismiss off hand dates given in Coptic manuscripts is not scientific. Not all Coptic dates given in Coptic manuscripts are accurate – copying and recopying has corrupted many of these dates, but in this occasion, there is no good reason to deny its authenticity.