Theban Legion

[Caius Valens]

Hi Constaine here, Ever since I have heard about them I must admit a certian respect for this group of men.It takes great courage to stand up to a goverment you belive is wrong. Does anyone know what time period their martyrdom happned?I have heard either 3rd or 4th century. Also it sounds to me that 6000 men in a time of war is a big sacfrice to please one mans anger. I can see a Decmation of say maybe 600 or so.Also their sheilds does anyone know what they looked like, or what sort of equipment they used Thanks Constaine

[Praefectusclassis]

The story of the 'Theban' legion comes from one of the Christian authors, which are not always reliable where it concerns the dealings of Christians with the Roman state. The Theban Legion story is probably an inflated incident (and if it concerns a late 3rd or 4th c legion, it wasn't this big anyway).
However, it is true that Christians caused problems where it concerned service in the army. We have examples of that problem from the 1st century onwards. The punishment is, I believe, seldom this harsh though.

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

Hi,

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (an excellent site BTW):

St. Maurice:
Leader (primicerius) of the Theban Legion, massacred at Agaunum, about 287 (286, 297, 302, 303), by order of Maximian Herculius. Feast, 22 Sept. The legend (Acta SS., VI, Sept., 308, 895) relates that the legion, composed entirely of Christians, had been called from Africa to suppress a revolt of the Bagaudæ in Gaul. The soldiers were ordered to sacrifice to the gods in thanksgiving but refused. Every tenth was then killed. Another order to sacrifice and another refusal caused a second decimation and then a general massacre. (On the value of the legend, etc., see Agaunum and Theban Legion.) St. Maurice is represented as a knight in full armour (sometimes as a Moor), bearing a standard and a palm; in Italian paintings with a red cross on his breast, which is the badge of the Sardinian Order of St. Maurice. Many places in Switzerland, Piedmont, France, and Germany have chosen him as celestial patron, as have also the dyers, clothmakers, soldiers, swordsmiths, and others. He is invoked against gout, cramps, etc.

see this link: [url:1yeurp68]http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10068c.htm[/url]

Agaunum and the Theban Legion:

Agaunum, in the diocese of Sion, Switzerland, owes its fame to an event related by St. Eucherius, Bishop of Lyons, the martyrdom of a Roman legion, known as the "Theban Legion", at the beginning of the fourth century. For centuries this martyrdom was accepted as an historical fact, but since the Reformation it has been the subject of long and violent controversies, an exact account of which may be found in the work of Franz Stolle. The sources for the martyrdom of the Thebans are few, consisting of two editions of their "Acts", certain entries in the calendars and in the martyrologies, and the letter of Bishop Eucherius, written in the year 450. To these may be added certain "Passiones" of Theban martyrs, who escaped from the massacre of Agaunum, but who later fell victims to the persecution in Germany and Italy. It was only in the episcopate of Theodore of Octodurum (369-391), a long time after the occurrence, that attention seems to have been drawn to the massacre of a Roman legion at Agaunum. It was then that, according to St. Eucherius, a basilica was built in honor of the martyrs, whose presence had been made known to Bishop Theodore by means of a revelation. The document of primary importance in connection with this history is the letter of St. Eucherius to Bishop Salvius, wherein he records the successive witnesses through whom the tradition was handed down to his time over a period, that is, of about one hundred and fifty years. He had journeyed to the place of martyrdom; whither pilgrims came in great numbers, and had, he says, questioned those who were able to tell him the truth concerning the matter. He does not, however, appear to have seen a text of the martyrdom, though his account has many excellent qualities, historical as well as literary. Certain facts are related with exactitude, and the author has refrained from all miraculous additions. But on the other hand, the speeches which he attributes to the martyrs, and the allusion by which he strives to connect the massacre of the Theban Legion with the general persecution under Diocletian have given rise to much discussion. The speeches were probably of the Bishop's Own composition; the historical groundwork on which he professes to base the martyrdom is wholly independent of the original narrative. The objections raised against the fact itself, and the attempts made to reduce the massacre of the legion to the mere death of six men, one of whom was a veteran, do not seem to merit attention. Barbarous as it nay appear, there is nothing incredible in the massacre of a legion; instances might be cited in support of so unusual an occurrence, though it is quite possible that at Agaunum we have to do not with a legion, but with a simple vexillatio. The silence of contemporary historians, which has been appealed to as an unanswerable argument against the truth of the martyrdom of the Thebans, is far from having the weight that has been given it. Paul Allard has shown this very clearly by proving that there was no reason why Sulpicius Severus, Orosius, Prudentius, Eusebius, or Lactantius should have spoken of the Theban martyrs. He fixes the date of the martyrdom as prior to the year 292, not, as generally received, in 303. Dora Ruinart, Paul Allard, and the editors of the "Analecta Bollandiana" are 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." This optimistic view, however, does not seem to have convinced all the critics. (See EUCHERIUS OF LYONS; MAURICE, ST.) .............

and: [url:1yeurp68]http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01205a.htm[/url]

[Alexandr K]

Hi,
an article (in German language) about the theban legion by M. A. Speidel can be found here:
http://www.mavors.org/en/projects_6.htm
Greetings
Alexandr

[Robert Vermaat]

That's a great article!

[Tarbicus]

Okay, it's bad enough having 2 Junkelmann books but only being able to gaze at the pictures and guess at the words.

If I Babelfish the article will it be worth it?

Cheers.

P.S., I guess it won't in advance.....

P.P.S., Don't say I should learn German now.....

[Robert Vermaat]

Okay, it's bad enough having 2 Junkelmann books but only being able to gaze at the pictures and guess at the words.
If I Babelfish the article will it be worth it?

You could try, of course, I wonder what details will be lost, but i guess you'll get the general point. I often 'babelfish' discussions in French, but I do them in English and in Dutch, so that some words not translated to the one language, are translated in the other!

But maybe learning the language would be less difficult... :?

[L C Cinna]

Thanks for the article! very interesting but not really surprising when you consider that most if not nearly all martyr-stories and exaggerated persecutions are nothing but inventions by christian writers.

[Robert Vermaat]

Nevertheless, even though we got some great background on the 'Theban' legions, the writer nevertheless did not manage to convincingly explain why the legend revolves arounf the 'Theban' legion anyway. And while I accept that no 6000 Christian were martyred here, and that none of the forces present in Egypt were probably involved, I keep wondering why the legend mentions that name.
I did not accept that the legend should be based on nothing because lesser officers are made the heroes, not the legion's high command. After all, if part of the unit was killed, these could very well have been the ringleaders.
Anf don't forget Juian, who was 'crowned' by a draconaruis, out of a whole army present!
I still think that the legend, while exaggerating ever more wildly as the story aged, still was based on some real event.

[Theodosius the Great]

Saint Maurice is an interesting character. I saw a documentary on him recently on the discovery channel. Despite the spelling of his name it is pronounced "Morris" :?

Thanks for posting those sources, Alexandr and Jeroen

I still think that the legend, while exaggerating ever more wildly as the story aged, still was based on some real event.

I agree with Vortigern. Christian writings weren't exclusively prone to exaggeration (especially in this late period) for the purposes of invoking literary affect.

[Nathan Ross]

The story of the Theban legion is an interesting one. One of the best essays I've found is this one, a fairly rigorous debunking, which situates the story in late 4th-century episcopal rivalries and opposition to the usurping Emperor Eugenius, rather than anything to do with Maximinian:

[url:3g3rnu95]http://www.ucc.ie/milmart/maurorig.html[/url]

That there was trouble with Christians in the army c290AD is almost certainly true however - it seems that Diocletian and Maximian were both keen to rid the legions of 'disloyal' types who refused to revere them in suitable fashion, perhaps prior to the general persecution of the Christians in the following decade. At this point, however, there was no fixed legislation on how to deal with religious dissent - the empire as a whole still abided with Gallienus' general tolerance - and certainly no fixed death penalty for Christian worship. Even at the height of the 'Great Persecution' of 303-12, the majority of Christians, if troubled at all, got off with a spell in jail. The massacre of an entire legion, or even a few dozen men of a legion, would have been a momentous act - the fact that it was completely disregarded by contemporary chroniclers more than eager to write up the smallest incident is quite telling as the veracity of the whole.

The best account (still, AFAIK) of the persecutions as a whole is G.E.M. de St Croix's 'Why where the early Christians persecuted?' (originally in the Harvard Theological Review aeons ago, but often reprinted) - he makes the point that the major persecutions, from Decius to Galerius, had little to do with 'religion' as we understand it and everything to do with a public display of loyalty to the regime.

[Jon Eaton]

A good article on the Theban Legion can be found in the Journal of Ecclesiastical History 45 (1994) pg 385-95.