Holy Greatmartyrs Sergios and Bacchos of Syria

Saints Sergios and Bacchos of Syria

The seventh of October in the Holy Orthodox Church is the feast day of two young Roman military martyrs whose glorification has graced the land of Syria for seventeen hundred years: Saints Sergios and Bacchos. Sadly, their memory has been much abused, in particular by American, French and British political activists, military-interventionists and accelerationists, many of whom have gæopolitical agendas hostile to the same Syrian Arab Christians who venerate them. I intend here to present as straightforwardly as possible the received hagiography of these two great saints of Syria. In another blog post I will also offer up a critique of those who would dishonour their memory by using them in attacks both on the traditional sexual morality of the Orthodox Church, and on those who venerate them in the very same land they reposed in.

Saints Sergios [Gk. Σέργιος, Ar. Sarkîs سركيس] and Bacchos [Gk. Βάκχος, Ar. Bâẖẖûs باخّوس] were soldiers in the army of Emperor Galerius, and before that had served under Maximian Herculius. Both of them were Christians, though this fact was not known to the Emperor when they rose to prominence in the army. They also enjoyed a close relationship with each other, as can be seen from later hagiographies. When Galerius sought to make a sacrifice to Jupiter, he brought with him his most trusted officers in his retinue to perform the ceremony with him. Sergios and Bacchos, having earned this level of trust and honour, made an excuse not to go inside the temple, which aroused some suspicion among the other officers. When they continued to refuse after repeated insistence that they go into the temple, it was discovered that they were Christians. They were arrested given over to Galerius for punishment.

Galerius had them shackled and dressed in women’s clothing, and then publicly paraded through the city to humiliate them. When this failed to make them comply to his bidding, Galerius sent them to Antiochos, the military governor of Barbalissos (now Qala’at Bâlis on Lake ’Asad in Aleppo Governorate), who was also an old friend of Sergios. Antiochos, upon hearing that the two men were Christians, at once ordered them to be beaten. Saint Bacchos was whipped so badly that he died during the torture, and thus he attained his martyrdom. The following day, Saint Bacchos appeared in a vision to Saint Sergios, telling him to be strong and steadfast in the faith, that they both might enter Paradise.

Over the following days Sergios was subjected to excruciating torments of the flesh by his former ‘friend’, and at last he was marched to ar-Ruṣâfa (which was later to be called Sergiopolis in his honour). His martyrdom was completed here, and his repose was accompanied by wonders of God, which turned many in the Roman army to belief in Christ. The resting-place of Saint Sergios came to be venerated by many local Christians, and in particular the Arabs who embraced Christ. They bestowed many honours upon his tomb and prayed there for healing and help, and erected a cathedral over his relics: the Basilica of Saint Sergios. What is interesting is that this basilica, like many others in the Middle East, was used by Christians of many confessions and also by Muslims, throughout the Middle Ages and into early modernity. The cultus of Saint Sergios was the source of a certain kind of bottom-up œcumenism – the same kind that accompanies the cultus of another Middle Eastern greatmartyr, Saint George of Lydda. Many other churches in the Middle East have been dedicated to these two great saints, including one at Constantinople and one at Ma‘lûlâ. Holy greatmartyrs Sergios and Bacchos, steadfast witnesses to Christ before the pagans, pray unto Christ for us that our souls may be saved!

Apolytikion to Greatmartyrs Sergios and Bacchos, Tone 4:

Your holy martyrs Sergios and Bacchos, O Lord,
Through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God.
For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries,
And shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through their intercessions, save our souls!

The Basilica of St Sergios, ar-Ruṣâfa