Martyr
Martyr Ecdicius (Ecditus) of Sebaste
†320
Also known as: Екдит Севастийский
Martyr Ecdicius of Sebaste — a soldier of the Cappadocian XII Fulminata Legion, one of the forty martyrs who suffered for confessing Christ in Sebaste of Armenia in 320 under Emperor Licinius: by order of the commander Agricola, the soldiers were stripped and left overnight on the ice of a lake, where nearly all froze to death.
Martyr Ecdicius (in some sources, Ecditus) was a soldier of Cappadocian origin, serving in the XII Fulminata Roman Legion stationed in the city of Sebaste of Armenia. The commander Agricola, by order of Emperor Licinius, demanded that the soldiers offer sacrifice to pagan gods; the forty who refused to comply, including Ecdicius, were stripped naked and placed overnight on an ice-covered lake in bitter frost. Unable to endure the cold, nearly all the martyrs froze to death, and their bodies were later burned. Ecdicius is included in the named list of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. His memory is kept on March 9/22.