Saints Alphaeus and Zaccheus were two Christians who were put to death in Caesarea, Palestine, in 303 or 304, according to church historian

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

in his ''

Martyrs of Palestine ''On the Martyrs of Palestine'' is a work by church historian and Bishop of Caesarea, Eusebius (AD 263 – 339), relating the persecution of Christians in Caesarea under Roman Emperor Diocletian. The work survives in two forms, a shorter recens ...

''. They are commemorated on November 18.

Background

There are two extant versions of Eusebius' ''Martyrs of Palestine'' and in both the shorter and the longer versions the stories of Alphaeus and Zaccheus are recounted, though with variations. Eusebius was present in Caesarea during the persecutions, part of the empire-wide campaign to suppress

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

Persecution of Christians in Caesarea

The Emperor Diocletian had ordered that all in the Empire should perform worship and sacrifices to the

Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin lite ...

. The authorities in Caesarea were so keen that all should obey this order that, according to the shorter recension of Eusebius' ''Martyrs of Palestine'', they seized one Christian leader by the hands, led him to the altar and thrust the offering into his right hand. He was then dismissed as if he had performed the sacrifice. It was agreed by those in charge that they would attest that two others had made the offerings, even though they had not. Another Christian opened his mouth to say that he refused to worship the Roman gods when the guards struck him across the face, prevented him from speaking, and dismissed him, so that, says Eusebius, of the many brought in from the area to perform acts of worship to the Roman gods or die, only two, Alphaeus and Zaccheus, "were honored with the crown of the holy martyrs."

Zaccheus

The authorities in Caesarea had brought in Christians from the surrounding area to

apostasize Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

or face death. Among them was a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

from

Gadara Gadara ( el, Γάδαρα ''Gádara''), in some texts Gedaris, was an ancient Hellenistic city, for a long time member of the Decapolis city league, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. Its ruins are today located at Umm ...

, Zaccheus, so-called after the person in the New Testament, according to Eusebius in the long recension of ''Martyrs of Palestine'', owing to his short stature and sweet nature. He spoke boldly of his faith before the judges, was tortured and put into a prison cell.

Alphaeus

Cousin of Zaccheus, Alphaeus was the

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

of the church in Caesarea. Many Christians in the city and its surroundings, faced with the choice of their religious principles or death, were crowding into the city to perform sacrifices to the gods, when Alphaeus loudly and publicly denounced their apostasy. Whereupon he was brought before the judges, ordered to sacrifice, but refused, making defiant statements of his faith.

Martyrdoms

Alphaeus and Zaccheus were tortured together over a period of days, and repeatedly offered the opportunity to sacrifice to the gods and be freed, but they refused despite their sufferings. They were finally both decapitated on the same day.

References

{{Reflist 4th-century Christian martyrs Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian