Martyrs
Martyrs Agathonikos and Theoprepios
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Witnesses of Christ who remained steadfast during the persecution of Emperor Maximian.
Core account checked against Orthodox Church in America — Martyr Agathonikos and his companions, Orthodox Church in America — Martyr Agathonikos and his companions, The Prologue from Ohrid — August 22. Additional ecclesiastical references appear below.
Life and Witness
Mission during the Persecution
Saint Agathonikos lived during the persecution of Emperor Maximian. He proclaimed Christ among pagans and brought many to the faith, including members of prominent households.
Theoprepios, Zoticus, Acindynus and other Christians were arrested with him. Their commemoration preserves the unity of a company whose missionary work led to a common confession.
The Forced March
The prisoners were driven from Nicomedia toward Thrace under brutal conditions. Those physically unable to continue were killed along the road, while Agathonikos strengthened the survivors.
At Selymbria the saint was brought before the emperor, refused sacrifice and was beheaded. His endurance transformed an imperial transfer intended to humiliate the Christians into a pilgrimage of martyrdom.
Veneration and Feast
The Church honors the martyrs through their icons, hymns and synaxarial reading. Later translations of relics spread their veneration beyond the places of their suffering.
August 22 — Holy Martyrs Agathonikos, Theoprepios and their companions.
From the Orthodox Synaxarion
The Prologue from Ohrid remembers Agathonikos and his companions as missionaries as well as martyrs. Their preaching brought others to Christ, and their endurance during arrest and forced travel culminated in a common confession unto death.
Historical Record and Ecclesiastical Tradition
The saints belong to a larger company martyred under Maximian, and the sources differ in grouping names and locations during the forced journey. Their shared confession is preserved without inventing separate biographies where the Synaxarion supplies only a collective witness.
Biographical information on this page is based exclusively on the Orthodox ecclesiastical sources listed below.
Orthodox Church in America — Martyr Agathonikos and his companionsOrthodox Church in America — Martyr Agathonikos and his companionsThe Prologue from Ohrid — August 22The Prologue from Ohrid — August 22