Martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus, and Basiliscus

Eutropius, Cleonicus, and Basiliscus were three soldiers and friends in the army of the Emperor Maximinus Daia at the beginning of the fourth century — all from the Pontic region near Amasea, all Christians who had concealed their faith during their military service. They had been close companions of the great martyr Theodore the Tyro, who was crowned in 306 at Amasea; the three were arrested in the same persecution shortly afterward.

The synaxarion preserves the careful sequence of their examinations. The local governor Asclepiodotus, recognizing their connection to Theodore, attempted by the customary tortures and inducements to break them in turn. Eutropius and Cleonicus were crucified together — by some accounts at the same place where Theodore had been burned a few weeks earlier — and Basiliscus was held back in chains for a separate later trial that brought him eventually to Comana, where he was beheaded (see his bio at May 22).

Their joint feast falls on March 3, on the anniversary of the crucifixion of Eutropius and Cleonicus, with Basiliscus commemorated again on May 22 for his separate martyrdom.