Saints Trophimus (''Trophimos''), Sabbatius (''Sabbatios, Sabbaticus''), and Dorymedon are venerated as

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

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.Christopher Walter, ''The warrior saints in Byzantine art and tradition'' (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003), 255. The story of their martyrdom is enshrouded in myth, and though they share the same

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

, the saints were not martyred together or at the same time. According to their ''Passion'', Emperor Probus decreed that all Christians should sacrifice 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 litera ...

. The Emperor sent two officials, Trophimus and Sabbatius, to

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

. However, after Trophimus and Sabbatius arrived at the city, they were so shocked by the tortures inflicted upon the Christians there that the two men converted to Christianity. Trophimus and Sabbatius were arrested and tortured; Sabbatius died as a result of being tortured. Trophimus was sent to Synnada 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 ...

. Imprisoned at Synnada was a Christian senator named Dorymedon, and Trophimus visited the senator in prison. Officials in Synnada attempted to force Dorymedon and Trophimus to sacrifice to the gods

Castor and Pollux Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, from ''Dîos'' ('Z ...

. Dorymedon and Trophimus refused and were tortured and sentenced to be thrown to wild beasts in the arena. According to their ''Passion'', the beasts refused to harm the two saints. The saints were then decapitated. Their legend is of questionable historicity. As Christopher Walter points out, Probus did not persecute Christians to the same extent that Emperors

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procla ...

did. A

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

in the form of a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

containing some of the bones of Trophimus was discovered at Schifout Kassaba (Synnada) in 1907, and transported to the museum at

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

; this monument may date back to the third century.See Mendel in ''

Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin Debate, ...

'', XXXIII (1909), 342 sq.

References

External links

* http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2374 * http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/70760 {{DEFAULTSORT:Trophimus, Sabbatius, And Dorymedon 3rd-century Christian martyrs Saints from Roman Anatolia Year of birth unknown Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era Saints trios