Saint Julius the Veteran ( la, Iulius), also known as ''Julius of Durostorum'', is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, Anglican and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

saint and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

. His feast day is 27 May.

Life

Julius of Durostorum was born to pagan parents. The date of Julius' conversion to Christianity is unknown. Julius served as a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

soldier for 27 years first as a conscript, then returning as a eteran totaling seven military campaigns in total. Given the years and locations in which Julius served, Rev. Herbert Musurillo, S.J. writes that Julius likely served in the

Legio XI Claudia Legio XI Claudia ("Claudius' Eleventh Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The legion was levied by Julius Caesar for his campaign against the Nervii. XI ''Claudia'' dates back to the two legions (the other was the XIIth) recruit ...

. Julius was Christian his entire military career. In accordance with the fourth edict of the

Diocletian Persecution The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...

, Julius was brought to trial before the

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

, Maximus, after being arrested by Maximus' staff soldiers for refusing to make a public sacrifice to the

Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin lite ...

. Upon hearing of his military service, Maximus complimented Julius for being a wise and serious man. In gratitude for his military service, Maximus proposed Julius a bargain: if Julius offered the public sacrifice, Maximus would accept blame for the sin of the sacrifice and would give Julius freedom, a ten-year bonus payment, and immunity from future charges. Julius declined the offer and was sentenced to death. Julius was killed by the sword in Durostorum, the Roman camp in Moesia Inferior (modern Silistra,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

) sometime between January and March of 304. Julius is widely considered a

Literature

*L. Arik Greenberg: ''My Share of God's Reward. Exploring the Roles and Formulations of the Afterlife in Early Christian Martyrdom'', Reihe: Studies in Biblical Literature - Band 121, Lang, New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien 2009, {{ISBN, 978-1-4331-0487-9, S. 195–198.

External links

Julius the Veteran
at Patron Saints Index
Saints of May 27
at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington D.C.

Notes

Ancient Roman soldiers Converts to Christianity from pagan religions 3rd-century births 4th-century Christian martyrs Christian martyrs executed by decapitation Military saints Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian