Martyr8th century

Martyr Julian of Constantinople and those with him

Martyred 730 at Constantinople

Also known as Julian · Marcian · John · James · Alexius · Demetrius · Photius · Peter · Leontius · Maria the Patrician · Gregory the Protospatharios

A group of Christians of Constantinople who suffered in 730 under the iconoclast emperor Leo the Isaurian for defending the holy icons.

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Commemorated as

The Holy Martyrs Julian, Marcian, John, James, Alexius, Demetrius, Photius, Peter and Leontius of Constantinople, and Those With Them

Life

The Martyr Julian of Constantinople and those with him were a group of Christians of the imperial city who suffered in the year 730 for their defense of the holy icons, at the outset of the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm under the emperor Leo III the Isaurian (reigned 717-741).

The commemoration gathers a named cohort of martyrs together with a larger company whose names were not recorded. Because they belong to a single collective act of confession rather than to separate, individually venerated lives, the Church keeps them as one commemoration on August 9.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide

TroparionTone 4

Your holy martyr Julian and his companions, O Lord,
through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God.
For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries,
and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through their intercessions, save our souls

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Contributions & Legacy

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Historical Context

The martyrs suffered during the opening years of Byzantine iconoclasm, when the emperor Leo III the Isaurian moved against the veneration of religious images. According to the historical record, between 726 and 730 Leo ordered the removal of a prominent image of Christ from the Chalke Gate, the ceremonial entrance to the imperial palace, and around 730 issued an edict forbidding the veneration of icons.

The synaxarion relates that the icon of Christ over the Chalke (Copper) Gate had hung there since the era of Constantine the Great, and that the emperor, together with the iconoclast patriarch Athanasius, commanded its removal. The reigning patriarch Germanus, who supported the icons, was deposed; the wider record likewise notes that Patriarch Germanos I resigned or was deposed following the imperial ban.

The Defense of the Chalke Icon

By the account preserved in the synaxarion, when soldiers were sent to take down the icon of Christ over the Chalke Gate, a crowd of the faithful rushed to prevent the act. In the disturbance the ladder fell and the soldier attempting the removal was killed, an event dated to January 19, 730. Maria the Patrician is named among those who resisted, and the Protospatharios ('Sword-Captain') Gregory and the nun Theodosia are also remembered as defenders of the icon.

The named martyrs of this commemoration include Julian, Marcian, John, James, Alexius, Demetrius, Photius, Peter and Leontius, together with Maria the Patrician and Gregory the Protospatharios.

Martyrdom

The synaxarion relates that the emperor put many of the faithful to death. The nine named martyrs were imprisoned for about eight months, during which, by the tradition, they received five hundred blows each day. They were afterward burned with hot irons and beheaded. Maria the Patrician, on learning of their deaths, is said to have accepted execution willingly.

By tradition their bodies were found incorrupt and were buried near a martyrion church, where they were discovered some one hundred thirty-nine years later.

Companions1 figureShowHide

Fellow defender — remembered among those who resisted the soldiers sent to remove the Chalke icon of Christ in 730.

Virgin Martyr Theodosiathe Nun of Constantinople

Related Saints1 saintShowHide

Saints connected to their life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Confessor of the icons — the reigning patriarch who upheld the holy images and was deposed as the iconoclast persecution began.

Saint GermanusPatriarch of Constantinople

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints