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 t was one of the strangest episodes in all
of military and Christian history--an army killing its own best soldiers.
The time: A.D. 320. The place: Sevaste, in present-day
Turkey. The issue: Would Christian soldiers obey and bow to pagan
gods?
Governor Agricola spoke mildly but firmly. He had good and strong warriors
before him. He needed them. They must be brought into line. "I am
told you refuse to offer the sacrifice ordered by Emperor Licinius."
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One of the soldiers answered on behalf of the rest. "We will not
sacrifice. To do so is to betray our holy faith."
"But what about your comrades? Consider--you alone of Caesar's
troops defy him! Think of the disgrace you bring upon your legion. How
can you do it?"
"To disgrace the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is more terrible
still."
A note of exasperation crept into the governor's voice. "Give up
this stubborn folly. You have no lord but Caesar! In his name, I promise
promotion to the first of you who steps forward and does his duty."
He paused a moment, expecting his lure would break their ranks. None of
them moved. He switched tactics. "You persist in your rebellion?
Then prepare for torture, prison, death! This is your last chance. Will
you obey your emperor?"
The soldiers stood firm, although they well knew the governor would carry
out his threat. They spoke: "Nothing you can offer us would replace
what we would lose in the next world. As for your threats--we've learned
to deny our bodies where the welfare of our souls is at stake."
Agricola ordered, "Flog them." Pairs of guards seized each
man and dragged them out into the cold where they were stripped and tied
to posts. Soon the swish of whips and the thud of blows filled the air
with groans. Hooks of iron tore the men's sides. Unbelievably, although
their flesh was bruised, their skins were tattered and their blood flowed,
not one of the forty surrendered.
"Chain them in my dungeons!" roared Agricola. "We'll
see what Lysias has to say about this."
Lysias, commander of the 12th Legion, was in no gentle mood when the
forty Christian soldiers were hauled before him a few days later. His
ride from Antioch to Sevaste had been tedious and cold. "You will
obey me," he said sternly, "or pay a sharp penalty."
The men answered him with respectful defiance, just as they had Agricola.
Lysias had not become a commander by coddling traitors, and he did not
intend to begin now. He motioned to Agricola.
Agricola came beside Lysias. As judge, he must make these unbending men
conform. But how? Just then, a frigid gale blew across the frozen pond
below and stabbed into his cheeks. It gave him an idea. "Take them
down to the pond," he ordered. Turning to the soldiers he added,
"You will stand naked on the ice until you agree to sacrifice to
the gods."
Agricola could hardly believe what his eyes saw next. The rebels began
stripping off their own clothes and running toward the pond in the freezing
March air. "We are soldiers of the Lord and fear no hardship,"
shouted one. "What is our death but entrance into eternal life?"
Sing It, Brothers!
Striking up a song, the men marched onto the frozen pond. Baffled, Agricola
posted guards around them. He squinted into the falling sun. Surely the
bitter cold of evening would change their minds....
Wait! There was something else he could do. "Heat baths of warm
water," he ordered the guards. "Place them around the pond.
That ought to lure them out pretty quickly," he smirked.
The sun sank behind the hills. Then upon the night air could be heard
a prayer: "Lord, there are forty of us engaged in this battle; grant
that forty may be crowned and not one be missing from this sacred number."
Standing on the shore, the shivering guards shouted into the night. "Don't
be idiots. What's the point? Come on out. Warm yourselves!"
"Look," one of the guards suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward
the sky.
"What?" said his fellow guard, eyes probing the darkness.
"Its too dark to see anything. By Jove, I wish this was over. I'm
freezing out here."
"Don't you see them? Spirits...hovering with golden crowns over
those fellows heads, holding out rich robes for them!"
"Are you out of your mind? It's pitch black. Hey! There's someone
coming! It's one of them."
Babbling, one of the forty crawled toward them from the ice. The two
ran forward, grasped his shuddering arms and helped him into a bath. But
the heat was too much of a shock to his frozen system. He went into convulsions
and died.
The guard who had seen the vision of crowns, without delay, shucked off
his clothes and ran onto the ice. The martyrs would be forty again!
When the sun rose, Agricola was told that the forty were dead. "Well,
get the bodies off the ice," he commanded. "Burn them. And dump
the ashes in the river."
The Youngest Was Still Alive
The guards backed a wagon as near the pond as they could and began stacking
the stiff corpses onto it. Then a bizarre twist occurred.
"Hey, we've got a live one here," a guard shouted. "It's
Melito. Poor fellow. He's just a kid."
"A local boy, too. That's his mom up there." The soldier beckoned
to the woman and she came near. "Listen, Mother, take your boy home,
save his life if you can. We'll look the other way."
"What kind of talk is that?" scolded the woman. She seemed
genuinely upset! The guards looked at each other in astonishment. "Would
you cheat him of his crown? I'll never let that happen!" As the wagon
began to roll away, she lifted her son with her peasant's strength, hoisting
him in with the others.
"Go, Son," she cried. "Go to the end of this happy journey
with your comrades so that you won't be the last to present yourself before
God."
One of the guards tapped the side of his head and rolled his eyes upward.
"Christians!" he muttered. "I just don't understand them."
Fascinating Facts Behind the Forty Martyrs of
Sevaste
How many agreed to sacrifice? A legion consisted of from 3,000
to 6,000 infantry plus cavalry. Apparently at least 2,960 men from the
Sevaste legion sacrificed at Licinius's order. Barely 1% bucked his demand!
The famous Thundering Legion. The legion stationed at
Sevaste may have been the famed Thundering Legion. Dating back to Caesar
Augustus, it took its name from a lightening emblem on its shields. The
Thundering Legion is connected with another unusual historical event.
During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, it was trapped in a dry valley and
only saved from dying of thirst by a furious thunderstorm which provided
drinking water and threw enemy soldiers into panic. Christian writers
spoke of the thunderstorm as a miracle in answer to the petitions of a
group of praying Christian soldiers. Pagan authors attributed it to sorcery
or to the prayers of Marcus Aurelius.
Why a legion of troops in Sevaste? Licinius had to defend
against Barbarians and Persians. Sevaste (now Sivas, Turkey) was a logical
place to station a sizable force to meet challenges from North and East.
Save the remains. The bodies of the Forty were burned
and their ashes cast into a river. The current deposited fragments of
bone at a bend in the stream. Christians collected and preserved them
as honored remains to be kept among local churches.
Sevaste (now Sivas, Turkey) was in Armenia. It was a strategic location
to station troops to meet threats from North and East.
Ephrem the Syrian, one credible witness to the story
Too Incredible to Be True?
Are we really supposed to believe that forty men in the prime of life
voluntarily undressed to die by freezing? Is this just a legend?
Actually, the story is as solid as ancient history gets. There are at
least three sources for it. The men were martyred in 320. Gregory of Nyssa
(c.335-396) tells that he was still a boy when a feast was established
in their memory and churches dedicated to them. He wrote two sermons on
them and declared his intention to bury his parents beside the remains
of some of the brave soldiers.
When Gregory's brother, Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea (c.330-379),
preached a sermon on the feast day of the Forty Martyrs, there were still
men and women alive who remembered the brave fellows. Basil's sermon,
by the way, is the oldest written record we have of their icy death, and
was preached in a church named for the Forty Martyrs.
Another person who later wrote about the martyrs was actually alive as
a fourteen year old boy when they spent their night on the ice. Ephrem
the Syrian (c.306-373) became a leading Christian scholar and hymn writer.
He spent much of his life in Edessa, about two hundred miles south of
Sevaste. Among his many poems was a eulogy on The Forty.
That Day the North Wind Did Blow
The day was very cold. Surely I do not have to inform you about the cold
since today's weather gives you a clear idea about it. The chill even
penetrates the walls....such was the season of the contest and the time
of their miracles when the north wind blew so vehemently.--Gregory of
Nyssa's 1st Sermon on the Forty Martyrs
Did Licinius Kill for Spite?
It is commonly and inaccurately stated that Constantine made Christianity
the official religion of the Roman Empire when he became emperor. Not
so. It was Theodosios I over a half-century later with his edict of 380.
Constantine actually came to power with a co-emperor Licinius.
In 313, Licinius needed Constantine's help and struck a deal with him.
To seal the bargain, Constantine married his sister to Licinius. The two
generals issued the edict of Milan, granting religious toleration to the
empire. Licinius even fought under a Christian banner.
So what changed? Why did Licinius turn on the Christians in 320? Both
wanted the same thing --single control over the empire. Persecuting Christians
was one way for Licinius to show how much he hated Constantine, whose
favor for the Christian faith was well known.
Out of Place Christians?
What were Christians doing in the army? Early Christian writers tell us
that Christians believed it was wrong to fight and kill. Could it be that
The Forty were draftees? Or had Christians decided it was okay to fight
as long as they did so under a Christian banner? Perhaps the men converted
to Christ after enrolling in the armed forces. |
