Saints Leontios, Hypatios and Theodoulos of Tripoli
Today in the Orthodox Church we recognise and celebrate three first-century holy martyrs of the Antiochian Church. Saints Leontios, Hypatios and Theodoulos were Roman military officers stationed in Tripoli in Phœnicia – what is now Ṭarâbulus in Lebanon. They suffered for the Christian faith under the persecutions of the pagan Roman Emperor Vespasian, sometime between the years 70 and 79.
Leontios [Gk. Λεóντιος, L. Leontius] was a Peloponnesian Greek by origin. He was handsome and of a tall, muscular build – which made him eminently suitable for service in the Imperial Army. He reached the rank of centurion, or commander. When he began his service, he distinguished himself by his profound natural virtues. He was courageous, as he had many victorious engagements to his name. But he was also possessed of a calm, deliberate mind and moderate habits of living, such that he was singled out by his superiors for his sound judgement. The Romans stationed at Tripoli held the young officer Leontios in high esteem.
Over the province of Syria Prima the Emperor Vespasian appointed a new military governor. This was in response to the First Jewish Revolt and the Siege of Jerusalem which resulted in the destruction of the Second Temple. Being concerned about future uprisings, this military governor, who was named Hadrian (not to be confused with the later Emperor), was given leave to operate with a heavy hand in his new province. The political loyalty of the Christians was regarded as suspect, and they were often blamed for the disasters and political unrest which occurred in the Empire at this time. The Jews, though their position after the destruction of the Temple was indeed lamentable, were consequently not the only ones to suffer the Empire’s wrath in the wake of this crackdown in the provinces of the Eastern Mediterranean.
It soon came to the attention of Hadrian that Saint Leontios was guilty of what he considered to be several infractions of Roman military discipline. Leontios had opened the military stores of grain in order to help refugees and other poor people fleeing from the destruction at Jerusalem. Moreover, Leontios refused to offer tribute to the pagan gods of Rome and had convinced several of his fellow officers to likewise refrain, which led Hadrian to suspect him of being a Christian. The man which Hadrian sent to Tripoli with a detachment of soldiers to find and detain Leontios, was a chiliarchos named Hypatios [Gk. Υπáτιος, L. Hypatius]. On the journey to Tripoli, Hypatios was taken ill with a high fever, and at one point was near death. A messenger of God came to Hypatios and told him: ‘If you wish to be healed, you and all your soldiers together must cry aloud to heaven three times: “O God of Leontios, save me!”’
Hypatios demanded of the angel to know why he should pray to the God of the man he was sent to arrest, but the messenger vanished as it had come. Hypatios nevertheless told of his vision to the detachment with him, among whom was a friend of his named Theodoulos [Gk. Θεóδουλος, L. Theodulus]. And together they did what the angel had told them to do. They gathered together and cried aloud three times in unison to the God of Leontios to save their tribune. Wondrously, no sooner was this done than Hypatios’s fever broke and he began to recover. The soldiers were overjoyed at this, but among them only Theodoulos truly marvelled at this wonder. He was amazed and baffled, and ultimately overcome by a deep love for God. He encouraged Hypatios to hurry ahead of his detachment with him, that they might seek out Leontios for themselves.
Hypatios and Theodoulos arrived in Tripoli ahead of their detachment, and set about at once looking for Leontios. But they had not spent very long in the city before they were greeted by a stranger in the street, who invited them to his home and hosted the two soldiers lavishly. It did not take the tribune and his aide long to figure out that their host was indeed the same centurion Leontios whom they had been told to seek out. They fell upon their knees before him and asked him to teach them about this God of his, who had by His grace and power healed Hypatios of his fever even on the brink of death. And Leontios began to teach them about Christ – the God who became flesh, who came into the world to redeem mankind from death, and who himself died and was risen in the flesh – and Hypatios and Theodoulos believed and asked to be baptised. Leontios brought them to a priest and acted as their sponsor: at their baptism Saint Leontios pronounced over them a prayer to the Holy Trinity. A luminous cloud appeared then in the sky and began to rain upon them in a sign of grace.
The detachment of Hypatios then arrived in Tripoli, followed soon after by the governor Hadrian himself. It did not take them long to figure out that not only had Hypatios and Theodoulos not arrested Leontios, but that they had also become Christians. The governor had all three of them arrested and brought before him – and, threatening them with torture and death, commanded them to renounce Christ and to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. All three of the martyrs adamantly refused, and confessed their faith in Christ. Saint Hypatios was placed under a column and scourged with iron claws, while Saint Theodoulos was beaten brutally with rods. Neither of them, however, renounced Christ. Seeing the steadfastness of these two martyrs, both of them were put to the sword. Saint Leontios was returned to prison, to be brought before the governor the next day.
When he was brought before Hadrian, the governor promised Saint Leontios high honours and rich rewards if he would only offer a small sacrifice of incense to the Roman gods, but Leontios refused every bit as adamantly as his fellow martyrs had done. Seeing that blandishments were getting him nowhere, the cruel governor had Leontios hung upside down from a pillar, with a heavy stone around his neck. Despite this torture, Leontios would not renounce his belief. Then Hadrian ordered his men to take rods and beat Leontios to death, which they did. They then took his body down from the pillar and flung it over the wall outside Tripoli. But the Christians of the town went out and found the relics of Saint Leontios and interred him decently in a grave on land owned by a local Christian noblewoman named Joanna, who had given money to the soldiery to take the body. The accusations against Leontios, as well as the record of his punishments and death, are recorded on tin tablets prepared by the governor’s scribe Notarios. These tablets were placed at the grave of the martyr. Holy martyrs Leontios, Hypatios and Theodoulos, confessors of Christ before the fruitless wrath of pagan Rome, pray unto Christ our God that our souls may be saved!
Apolytikion of the Martyrs Leontios, Hypatios and Theodoulos, Tone 4:
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee
Received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life
From Thee, our immortal God.
For since he possessed Thy strength,
He cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption.
O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.
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