Saints Theodora and Didymus (died 304) are

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s whose

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

is based on a 4th-century ''acta'' and the word of

Saint Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

. The pair were

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

ed in the reigns of co-ruling Roman Emperors

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

and

Maximian Maximian (; ), nicknamed Herculius, was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar (title), Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocleti ...

us. St. Theodora should not be confused with another St. Theodora of Alexandria commemorated on September 11.

Legend

Theodora was a young noblewoman of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

who had refused to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. Standing 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' ...

Eustratius, she bravely confessed herself a Christian. The prefect asked why she had not married, pointing out that she was of a noble family and beautiful and could have her choice of husbands. She replied that she had dedicated herself to God, and had resolved to remain a virgin for the name of Christ. Eustratius had her imprisoned, giving her time to reconsider, and he threatened to have her taken to a brothel if she persisted in her disobedience. Three days later, Theodora was brought again to trial, but remained resolute. Accordingly, Theodora was taken to a brothel. Dissolute youths began to argue which of them should be the first to have her. The Christian Didymus, dressed in soldier's garb, entered and chased the profligates out. Didymus exchanged clothes with her, and she escaped. When a man came to despoil the virgin, Didymus revealed himself. Didymus was taken prisoner and brought to the prefect, where he was condemned to death. Saint Ambrose says that Theodora could not allow her savior to die alone and that she joined Didymus before Proculus. Didymus and, according to Ambrose, Theodora were beheaded. Didymus's body was burned. They are not included in 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 ...

, the official list of saints of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Church. The story of Theodora and Didymus is almost identical to that of Saints Antonia and Alexander. The theme of the story might reflect the institution of religious prostitution, prevalent in the ancient

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, as remembered in a highly-disapproving Christian tradition.

Adaptations

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

wrote in 1645 a

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

''Theodore, virgin and martyr'', based on this story, but he transferred it to Antioch. It was a signal failure, removed after only five performances. Corneille's play was the basis of

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, Alchemy, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the foun ...

's version, ''The Martyrdom of Theodora, and of Didymus'', privately composed and circulated in 1648-9 then published by Boyle in a revised edition in 1687. Boyle's version was read into the eighteenth century, with

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

commenting that it was "the first 'attempt to employ the ornaments of romance in the decoration of religion.'" The oratorio ''

Theodora Theodora may refer to: * Theodora (given name), a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift" Historical figures known as Theodora Byzantine empresses * Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church * Theodo ...

'' composed by

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

in 1749 was based on the story of Theodora and Didymus.

Antonina and Alexander

Saints Antonina and Alexander were

s of 313, and they are

s whose ''acta'' are legendary. The story of the two is nearly identical to that of Saints Theodora and Didymus. The legend of Antonina and Alexander has the former being forced to a

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

(the penalty for women who refused to wed), where a Christian soldier named Alexander came to her in the guise of a customer. Instead of deflowering her, he traded clothes with her, allowing Antonina to escape. Alexander was discovered very soon after, and both Antonina and Alexander were executed by being burned alive. "Antonina" and "Alexander" may be

mnemonic A mnemonic device ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember. It makes use of e ...

device names that made oral repetition of the tale easier, and so it is possible, if not likely, that they are invented names. Whether Theodora and Didymus were the originals or not, it is possible that these legends are shadows of an actual martyrdom that had been lost to the storytellers. The

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

of Antonina and Alexander in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

is May 3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theodora And Didymus 3rd-century births 304 deaths Saints from Roman Egypt Ancient Christian female saints Ancient Roman soldiers Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Saints duos Legendary Romans Virgin martyrs