Agathius

Who was Agathius?

Saint Agathius, also known as Achatius or Agathonas or Acacius of Byzantium, according to Christian tradition, was a Cappadocian Greek centurion of the imperial army. He was arrested for his faith on charges for being a Christian by Tribune Firmus in Perinthus, Thrace, tortured, and then brought to Byzantium, where he was scourged and beheaded, being made a martyr because he would not give up his Christian Faith. In the later centuries he became popular among the Greeks of the Mani Peninsula in Greece, especially during the reign of the Ottoman Empire in which the Ottomans attempted to forcibly convert everyone to Islam, although the Maniots refused.

The date of martyrdom is traditionally May 8, when his feast is observed.