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32-588: According to Eucherius of Lyon , c. 443–450, the Legion was garrisoned at Thebes in Egypt. The Legion was quartered in the East until the emperor Maximian ordered them to march to Gaul , to assist him against the rebels of Burgundy . The Theban Legion was commanded by Maurice (Mauritius), Candidus , Innocent, and Exuperius , all of whom are venerated as saints . At Saint-Maurice, Switzerland , then called Agaunum ,

64-583: A letter to Faustus of Lérins describing his pilgrimage to Jerusalem . Eucherius' Epistola paraenetica ad Valerianum cognatum, de contemptu mundi ("Epistle of exhortation to his kinsman Valerian, On the contempt of the world") is an expression of the despair for the present and future of the world in its last throes shared by many educated men of Late Antiquity , with hope for a world to come. Desiderius Erasmus thought so highly of its Latin style that he edited and published it at Basel (1520). Legio I Maximiana The Legio I Maximiana ( of Maximian )

96-575: A new legion were leaving port. During the trial of the martyr Maximilian, it was noted that there were Christians serving in the Roman army, and the existence of Theban Christian legionaries in the same units as mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum was shown. In 1907, Henri Leclercq noted that the account of Eucherius "has many excellent qualities, historical as well as literary." L. Dupaz countered Denis Van Berchem's assertion by sifting through

128-532: A publication now in the public domain :  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). " Agaunum ". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Ælfric of Eynsham (1881). "Of the Theban Legion"  . Ælfric's Lives of Saints . London, Pub. for the Early English text society, by N. Trübner & co. Eucherius of Lyon Eucherius (c. 380 – c. 449)

160-485: A single cohort was martyred at Agaunum. The remainder of the cohorts (battalion sized units of which there were ten to a legion) were either on the march or already stationed along the Roman road that ran from Liguria through Turin and Milan, then across Alps and down the Rhine to Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne). L. Dupraz and Paul Müller, by examining the military titles and ranks of the legionnaires and thereby determining

192-631: The Notitia Dignitatum , the designation is interpreted more broadly as of the Thebaid in general. The legion is also known as Maximiana Thebanorum or Thebaeorum ("Maximian legion of the Thebans"). The cognomen Maximiana originated from Maximian , Diocletian's colleague. In 354, I Maximiana was located in Thrace, in the city of Adrianople . Thus it is likely that it fought in

224-572: The Battle of Adrianople , in 378, when emperor Valens was defeated by Goths . According to Notitia Dignitatum , the I Maximiana Thebanorum was still under Thracian command at the start of the 5th century, while the I Maximiana was in Philae (Egypt, south of Aswan ), under the dux Thebaidos . There exists also a Theban Legion in the legend of Saint Maurice from the 5th century. According to that tradition, this ( Prima Maximiana Thebanorum )

256-543: The Coptic Encyclopedia , there were two legions bearing the name "Theban", both of them formed by Diocletian sometime after the organization of the original Egyptian legion, stationed at Alexandria. It is not certain which of these was transferred from Egypt to Europe in order to assist Maximian in Gaul. The monastic accounts themselves do not specifically state that all the soldiers were collectively executed;

288-510: The abbey of Agaunum ) to offer presents of gold, silver and other things. In the late 6th century, Gregory of Tours was convinced of the miraculous powers of the Theban Legion though he transferred the event to Cologne , where there was an early cult devoted to Maurice and the Theban Legion: At Cologne there is a church in which the fifty men from the holy Theban Legion are said to have consummated their martyrdom for

320-569: The Egyptian desert known as the " Desert Fathers ", and the followers they inspired during the first two centuries. The persecution of high-ranking Christian nobility under Emperor Valerian following his edict in 258 and the purge of Christians from the military from 284 through 299 under Emperor Diocletian indicate that refusing compliance with emperor worship was the common method for detecting Christians. Donald F. O'Reilly argued that evidence from coins, papyrus, and Roman army lists supports

352-673: The desert"), addressed to Hilary of Arles. His Liber formularum spiritalis intelligentiae , addressed to his son Veranus, is a defence of the lawfulness of allegorical readins of the Bible , bringing to bear the metaphors in Psalms and such phrases as "the hand of God." The term anagoge (ἀναγωγὴ) is employed for the application of Scripture to the heavenly Jerusalem to come, and there are other examples of what would become classic medieval hermeneutics. Among Eucherius' other letters are his Institutiones ad Salonium , addressed to his other son, and

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384-517: The founder of Lérins. These describe the daily lives of the hermits of the Egyptian Thebaid and discuss the important themes of grace, free will and scripture. Though imitating the ascetic lifestyle of the Egyptian hermits, Eucherius kept in touch with men renowned for learning and piety: Cassian, Honoratus, Hilary of Arles , Claudianus Mamertus , Agroecius (who dedicated a book to him) and Sidonius Apollinaris . The fame of Eucherius

416-531: The legend of the Theban legion was a literary production, not based on a local tradition. David Woods, Professor of Classics at the University College Cork, alleges that the model of Maurice and the Theban Legion based on Eucherius of Lyon 's letter was a complete fiction. However, the strength of the account is based on the historical reputation of the earliest Christian monks, the hermits of

448-463: The name of Christ. And because the church, with its wonderful construction and mosaics, shines as if somehow gilded, the inhabitants prefer to call it the "Church of the Golden Saints". Once Eberigisilus, who was at the time bishop of Cologne, was racked with severe pains in half his head. He was then in a villa near a village. Eberigisilus sent his deacon to the church of the saints. Since there

480-459: The neighbouring island of Lerona (now Île Sainte-Marguerite ), where he devoted his time to study and mortification of the flesh . With the thought that he might join the anchorites in the deserts of the East, he consulted John Cassian , the famed hermit who had arrived from the East in Marseille . Cassian dedicated the second set of his Collationes (nos. 11–17) to Eucherius and Honoratus ,

512-455: The orders were given—since the Legion had refused to perform sacrifice according to the imperial cult —to " decimate " it by putting to death a tenth of its men. This act was repeated twice before the entire legion was put to death. According to a letter written about 450 by Eucherius, Bishop of Lyon , bodies identified as the martyrs of Agaunum were discovered by Theodore (Theodulus), the first historically identified Bishop of Octudurum , who

544-463: The saint gave his precious soul to the most high God. How much more should this sacred place, Agaunum, be reverenced, where so many thousands of martyrs have been slain, with the sword, for the sake of Christ. As with many hagiographies, Eucherius' letter to Bishop Salvius reinforced an existing pilgrimage site. Many of the faithful were coming from diverse provinces of the empire, according to Eucherius, devoutly to honor these saints, and (important for

576-415: The soldiers had been executed, and that this was where the story of the legion's destruction originated from. Henri Leclercq suggests that it is quite possible that an incident at Agaunum may have had to do not with a legion, but with a simple detachment . Johan Mösch, after comparing information from the various chronicles on the events and geography of the martyrdoms of the legionaries, concluded that only

608-544: The stories, carefully matching them with archeological discoveries at Agaunum, thus concluding that the martyrdom is historical and that the relics of the martyrs were brought to Agaunum between 286 and 392 through the office of the bishop Theodore. Thierry Ruinart , Paul Allard , and the editors of the "Analecta Bollandiana" were of opinion that "the martyrdom of the legion, attested, as it is by ancient and reliable evidence, cannot be called in question by any honest mind." [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

640-519: The story of the Theban Legion. A papyrus dated "in the sixth year of our Lord, the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Probus Pius Augustus, Tubi sixteenth" (13 January 282 AD), shows rations which would sustain a legion for about three months to be delivered to Panopolis to the "mobilized soldiers and sailors". Coins from Alexandria from the same time period were minted in a style used only when troops for

672-403: The succession of witnesses from the martyrdom to his time, a span of about 150 years. The bishop had made the journey to Agaunum himself, and his report of his visit multiplied a thousandfold the standard formula of the martyrologies : We often hear, do we not, a particular locality or city is held in high honour because of one single martyr who died there, and quite rightly, because in each case

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704-494: The total number of soldiers involved, estimated that the Thebans martyred at Agaunum consisted of but one cohort whose number did not exceed 520 men. Thus the execution of an entire cohors is equivalent to decimation of a legion. The account of the Theban legion is regarded as fictitious by certain modern revisionist historians. In 1956 Denis Van Berchem, of the University of Geneva , proposed that Eucherius' presentation of

736-479: The twelfth century bishop Otto of Freising (probably influenced by Gregory of Tours' account) wrote in his Chronica de duabus civitatibus that many of the legionaries escaped and only some were executed at Agaunum , and the others apprehended later and put to death both at Bonn and Köln . It is possible that the legion was simply divided during Diocletian's re-organization of units (breaking up legions of 6000 men to create smaller units of 1000), and that some of

768-477: Was a comitatensis Roman legion , probably created by Emperor Diocletian in 296 or 297 AD. The legion was named after Maximianus , a colleague of Diocletian. The I Maximiana was formed together with II Flavia Constantia , to garrison the newly created province Thebaidos , in Aegyptus . As well as protect it from neighboring tribes. Since no Legio I Maximiana is listed as being stationed at Thebes in

800-668: Was a high-born and high-ranking ecclesiastic in the Christian church in Roman Gaul . He is remembered for his letters advocating extreme self-abnegation. From 439, he served as Archbishop of Lyon , and Henry Wace ranked him "the most distinguished occupant of that see" after Irenaeus . He is venerated as a saint within the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church . Eucherius

832-456: Was employed to condemn atrocities committed under military orders. For Donald O'Reilly, an apologist for the historicity of the account in 1978, it was "the moral issue of organized violence". Thebaei is the proper name of one particular military unit, the Legio I Maximiana , also known as Maximiana Thebaeorum , recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum . According to Samir F. Girgis, writing in

864-471: Was included among the persecution of Christians detailed in John Foxe 's 1583 Actes and Monuments , an early Protestant stand-by. Accounts of the moral inculcated by the exemplum of the Theban Legion resonate with the immediate culture of each teller. The miraculous whole-hearted unanimity of the Legion to the last individual, was downplayed by Hugo Grotius , for whom the moral of the Theban Legion

896-500: Was married to a Gallo-Roman woman named Galla . They had two sons: Veranus and Salonius , who were born c.400. According to some sources, they also had two daughters, Consortia and Tullia. After their sons were born, Eucherius suggested that they adopt a more ascetic life together. Galla and Eucherius' marriage evolved to a 'marriage of friendship' like others undertaken by other religious figures such as Paulinus and Therasia of Nola . The family practised "unwealth" - where life

928-472: Was present at the Council of Aquileia, 381 and died in 391. The basilica he built in their honor attracted the pilgrim trade; its remains can still be seen, part of the abbey begun in the early sixth century on land donated by King Sigismund of Burgundy . The earliest surviving document describing "the holy Martyrs who have made Agaunum illustrious with their blood" is the letter of Eucherius, which describes

960-432: Was restricted to the minimum in order to support prayer and devotion. On the death of his wife Galla , as was common in the 5th century, Eucherius withdrew with his sons, Veranus and Salonius , to the monastery of Lérins for a time. Both sons were later sent to visit Paulinus of Nola. There he lived a severely simple life of study, devoting himself to the education of his sons. Soon afterwards he withdrew further, to

992-470: Was said to be in the middle of the church a pit into which the saints were thrown together after their martyrdom , the deacon collected some dust there and brought it to the bishop . As soon as the dust touched Eberigisilus' head, immediately all pain was gone. The tale of steadfast conduct and faith was embroidered in later retellings and figured in the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine and

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1024-440: Was soon so widespread in southeastern Gaul that he was chosen bishop of Lyon. This was probably in 434. It is certain, at least, that he attended the first council of Orange as metropolitan of Lyon in 441, and that he retained this dignity until his death. He was succeeded in the bishopric by his son Veranus, while Salonius became Bishop of Geneva . Around 428, Eucherius wrote his epistolary essay De laude eremi ("in praise of

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