Orthodox · † 362
Great Martyr Artemius of Antioch
Commemorated: November 2 (October 20, Old Style)
Life
Artemius was a high-ranking officer under Constantine the Great and Constantius II, who made him military commander (dux) of Egypt. Tradition credits him with bringing relics of the Apostles Andrew and Luke and of Timothy to Constantinople.
Under Julian, who turned away from Christianity, he was condemned and beheaded at Antioch in 362; the historian Ammianus Marcellinus mentions his execution, linking it to complaints from Alexandria. His Passion tells that he rebuked the emperor for torturing two Christian priests and was crushed between stones before being beheaded. His cult flourished in Constantinople, where his church was famous for healings.
Places
- Place of death: Antioch
Retold briefly in our own words from: the Lives of the Saints by St Dimitry of Rostov (1902–1916); the Roman Martyrology (1916).
The commemorations of the day: Ponomar (ponomar.net), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Places and years: Wikidata (CC0), each saint matched by hand.