Saint Gemellus of Ancyra is venerated as a Christian

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and saint. According to tradition, he was martyred by

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

Ancyra Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...

(present-day

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

), in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, during the reign of Julian the Apostate.Michael Walsh, ''A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West'' (Liturgical Press, 2007), 222. He was a native of

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus t ...

.Sir William Smith, ''A dictionary of christian biography, literature, sects and doctrines: being a continuation of "The dictionary of the Bible", Volume 1'' (Little, Brown & Co., 1880), 623. He is said to be the last Christian martyr who was killed by crucifixion. Hearing that the Emperor Julian was at Ancyra, Gemellus had traveled there to criticize the emperor for his

apostasy 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 ...

, and was tortured and killed at Ancyra (or, according to one source, at Edessa). A church dedicated to Saint Gemellus was located at Sykeon, a village on the Siberis River in Asia Minor.Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, ''The historical geography of Asia Minor'' (John Murray, 1890), 244.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemellus Of Ancyra 4th-century Christian martyrs 362 deaths Year of birth unknown