Browsing: Forty Martyrs of Sebastea

Source: MYSTAGOGY By Dan Graves It 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? How many agreed to sacrifice? A legion consisted 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,…