St. Maurice and the 6600 Martyrs of the Theban Legion

One of the most amazing and inspiring stories of the early church is that of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion. To this day, churches and cities throughout central Europe bear witness to their existence and their heroic and courageous stand for the Faith of Jesus Christ. On the highway that leads from Geneva, Switzerland to Rome, Italy is a small Swiss town called St. Maurice en Valais. In ancient times it was known as "Aguanum." Named after St. Maurice, who with his fellow soldiers, was martyred for his refusal to sacrifice to the Roman deities and slay his fellow Christians throughout central Europe, it now stands as an enduring legacy to their holy courage.

St. Eucherius, bishop of Lyons (+A.D. 494), preserved the story of these martyrs. He called for Aguanum to be reverenced "where so many thousands of martyrs have been slain with the sword for the sake of Christ." Maximian, (A.D. 285-305) who was the co-Emperor of Diocletian, sent an army to put down an uprising of the Gauls throughout central Europe. One of the units in the army had been recruited from Thebes in southern Egypt, and was an entirely Christian legion of 6600 men. To give thanks to the gods for the success of their campaign, all were expected to offer sacrifice. This included the killing of Christians. Only the legion from Thebes refused to comply, and withdrew to Aguanum rather than participate in this order. When Maximian was unable to get them to obey, he gave order that the legion should be decimated that is, every tenth man was to be put to death. Then a second decimation was ordered. But they all gave a great shout of defiance.

St. Eucherius explained, "They had always the horror of idolatry. They had been brought up as Christians and were instructed in the One Eternal God and were ready to suffer extreme penalties rather than do any thing contrary to their religion."

Their leader and inspirer was St. Maurice himself. When they still refused after the second decimation, Maximian threatened that if they continued in their disobedience, none of them would escape. St. Eucherius records their timeless response: "Emperor, we are your soldiers but also the soldiers of the true God. We owe you military service and obedience, but we cannot renounce Him who is our Creator and Master, and also yours even though you reject Him. In all things, which are not against His law, we most willingly obey you, as we have done hitherto. We readily oppose your enemies whoever they are, but we cannot stain our hands with the blood of innocent people [Christians]. We have taken an oath to God before we took one to you; you cannot place any confidence in our second oath if we violate the first. You commanded us to execute Christians; behold we are such. We confess God the Father, the Creator of all things, and His Son Jesus Christ, also God. We have seen our comrades slain with the sword, and we do not weep for them but rather rejoice at their honor. Neither this, nor any other provocation has tempted us to revolt. Behold, we have arms in our hands, but we do not resist, because we would rather die innocent than live by any sin."

In a bestial rage, Maximian ordered the slaughter of the entire legion. Some were not at Aguanum at the time of the massacre, but were posted along the military positions throughout the Alps linking Switzerland with Germany and Italy. These also were martyred wherever they were found. Thus, the courageous stand and blood of African martyrs originally sanctified some of the most celebrated spots of Western Europe for Jesus Christ and against pagan idolatry, and betrayal and murder of brethren. Besides Aguanum, the other sites where the martyrs were slain were Zurich, Soluthurn, and at Zurzach in Switzerland; Bergamo, Turin, Piacenza, the Cottian Alps, Pinerolo, Milan, and Ventimilia in Italy; and Terier, Bonn, Cologne, and Xanten in Germany.

Many miracles occurred during the time of their martyrdoms, with massive conversions occurring in those areas. St. Eucherius said that many miracles were worked at the shrines of these martyrs up to his day, such as the casting out of demons, and other kinds of healing "which the might of the Lord works there everyday through the intercession of His saints."

Over seventy European towns carry the name of St. Maurice. In the monastery of St. Maurice in Switzerland, a 24-hour vigil (called in Coptic Tasbeha) has been carried on for over 500 years now. Churches, statues, classical art masterpieces, and towns all bear witness to this African martyr and his holy companions.

May they remember us as well as they stand in the presence of Christ, the God worshiped by Noah and the children of the Faith.