Saints Juventinus (or Juventius) and Maximinus (died 29 January 363) were Christian martyrs and members of the imperial guard of

Emperor Julian Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar (title), Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Ancient Greek, Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promoti ...

. Their feast day is 25 January. Before starting his campaign against the

Sassanid Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

, Julian issued an edict that prohibited the veneration of the relics in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

. He also gave orders to sprinkle all the foodstuffs in the marketplace and the water in the wells with blood offered to idols. Juventius and his colleague Maximinus (also reported as Maximos or Maximus) let fall at a banquet comments on the emperor's laws against the Christians, "Does life make any sense nowadays? All things holy are despoiled. Our faith in the Lord of Creation is treated with contempt and disgrace. Wherever one is, one inhales the ugly smell of animal fat and sacrificial meat. Nowhere can one find any fresh air."Teitler, H. C., ''The Last Pagan Emperor: Julian the Apostate and the War against Christianity'', Oxford University Press, 2017
Being informed of this, the emperor sent for them, but could not persuade them to retract what they had said, nor to sacrifice to the gods. According to the

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provid ...

, Julian had them stripped of their properties, beaten and beheaded. Saint

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and p ...

wrote a panegyric concerning them.Butler, Alban. "St. Juventinus and St. Maximinus, Martyrs", ''The Lives of the Saints''. 1866
/ref> Chrysostom makes the point that they were executed in the middle of the night on a charge of high treason, as Julian did not want to make martyrs of them by suggesting they died because of their faith. The Roman historian

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

makes no mention of Juventinus and Maximinus, nor does

Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nazianzus (; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was an early Roman Christian theologian and prelate who served as Archbi ...

or church historian Socrates of Constantinople. ''The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus'' was based on an earlier lost passion of Juventinus and Maximinus. The author took material from the stories of martyrs of Julian's time rather than that of Galerius.Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri, ''Scritti agiografici'', Volume I (1893-1900)

References

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External links

Juventinus at Patron Saints Index''Juventinus and Maximinus''
363 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Julian (emperor) Saints duos Year of birth missing Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era

See also

References

External links