The Seven Brothers of Lazia are the seven martyred brothers: Orentius, Cyriacus, Firminus, Firmus, Heros, Longinus, and Pharnacius. They were soldiers in the Roman Army, supposedly joined Diocletian's army at Antioch, saw service in Thrace, were condemned for their Christian faith and suffered martyrdom during the persecutions of co-EmperorMaximian.[1][2]
During the reign of Maximian (r. 284–305) Roman Anatolia faced Scythian invasion. Saint Orentius was ordered to fight against the Scythian warrior Marothom. Orentius defeated Marothom and thus stopped the Scythian invasion. The emperor intended to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods to celebrate the victory and invited Orentius. However, Orentius refused, explaining that he was a Christian. The Emperor gave orders to banish both the saint and his six brothers to the Caucasus. During the journey all seven brothers died from hunger or torture.[3]
Saints
Orentius, principal martyr; Longinus, final martyr; exiled to Pityus; and five others, all condemned at Satala.[4]
1 2 A. Bryer and D. Winfield, The Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos, pp.325-46
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
