The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. Icon

Icon from Georgia, s.XIII. In the year 320, Licinius ordered his soldiers to repudiate Christ on pain of death. In the "Thundering Legion," stationed near Sebaste, in the Roman Armenia, forty soldiers refused. They were stripped naked one evening and herded onto the middle of a frozen lake, and told, "You may come ashore when you are ready to deny your faith." To tempt them, fires were built on shore, with warm baths, blankets, clothing, and hot food and drink close by. As night deepened, thirty-nine men stood firm, while one broke and ran to the shore. However, one of the soldiers standing guard on shore was so moved by the steadfastness of the Christians that he stripped off his clothes and ran out to join them. They welcomed him into their company, and so the number of the martyrs remained at forty, and by morning, all were dead of exposure.