4th century
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
Forty soldiers martyred on a frozen lake at Sebaste around 320.
Biography
The Forty Martyrs were soldiers of an elite unit of Licinius stationed at Sebaste. When persecution of Christians broke out, the prefect Agricola offered them rewards and rank if they would renounce their faith, but they refused, replying that they were willing subjects of the emperor but not of idolatry.
On a freezing night in 320 they were stripped and thrown onto a frozen lake near Sebaste. One lost heart, but the guard set to watch them, seeing a supernatural light over their heads, confessed Christ and took his place in the lake, so that the number forty remained complete.
The next morning their legs were broken and their bodies burned; their relics were later recovered and distributed among many cities, and their memory has been widely honored since as early as the 4th century.