Доростолските мъченици от XI клавдиев легион по време на т.нар. „Диоклецианови гонения“
The Soldier-Martyrs of Durostorum from Legio XI Claudia during the Great Persecution

Summary/Abstract: Before the time of the Great Persecution Christians were not prosecuted by the imperial government, but with the accession of the Emperor Diocletian (284–305 г.) the religious policy takes another direction. The emperor’s legislation inaugurates the first and only period of persecution against Christians due to their religious beliefs. One of the first Christian centers in today’s Bulgarian territory is the city of Durostorum (modern day Silistra), which at the end of 4th century became the seat of a Christian bishopric and a center of Christianity in the region. Many early Christian buildings and artefacts indicating a strong Christian presence compared to the other parts of the Moesia Inferior province have been discovered in Durostorum. In numerous hagiographical sources the names of a fourteen martyrs stand out. Eight of them are known to be soldiers in the Legio XI Claudia during the time of the Great Persecution. Unfortunately there is no other source that confirms their stories or their actual existence. The only information about those soldiers is that they were executed during the reign of Emperor Diocletian in 304.This paper argues that the majority of the martyrdom stories need to be considered as propagandist literature while the martyrs themselves represent the embodiment of a Christian ethic – an ideal example of heroism and other virtues. whatever the case with the martyrs of Durostorum is, we couldn’t possibly consider them as an example for the religious climate during the time of the edicts.

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