Saints Narcissus, Argeus and Marcellinus (d. 320 AD) are Christian saints and

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 ...

s. Tradition states that they were brothers enlisted as soldiers in the army of

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan, AD 313, that granted official toleration to C ...

. After refusing to perform military service due to their faith, they were tried and put to death at Tomi. Another version is that the three brothers who suffered martyrdom at Tomis in Pontus (on the Black Sea), under the Emperor Licinius, who obliged all his soldiers to offer sacrifice to the gods. Because of their refusal, the three brothers were put to death. Argeus and Narcissus were

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

, while Marcellinus, only a

boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is ...

, was flogged, imprisoned, and then drowned by being thrown into the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

.Monks of Ramsgate. “Argeus, Narcissus and Marcellinus”. ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 30 July 2012
/ref> Their feast day is January 2.

External links

Saints of January 2: Argeus, Narcissus & Marcellinus

Notes

320 deaths Saints trios 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Year of birth unknown Military saints {{AncientRome-bio-stub