Great Martyr Artemius of Antioch

The Great Martyr Artemius came from a noble Roman senatorial family. According to his Life, he fought with Constantine the Great at the Milvian Bridge in 312 and was converted by the vision of the Cross. He served for many years at Constantine's court and then as an adviser to Constantius II, on whose orders he solemnly translated the relics of the Apostles Andrew and Luke from Patras to Constantinople. He was then appointed military commander (dux and augustalis) of Alexandria and, as governor of Egypt, strengthened the Christian faith there.

When Julian the Apostate came to Antioch, Artemius publicly denounced his cruelty towards Christians and foretold his imminent death. Julian accused him of complicity in the murder of his brother, the Caesar Gallus, had him tortured and imprisoned, and after the temple of Apollo at Daphne burned down, crushed him under a stone and had him beheaded in 362. Julian was soon killed in his Persian campaign, as Artemius had predicted. The deaconess Arista sent his body to Constantinople, where it rested in the church of St John the Forerunner in Oxeia; part of the relics was brought to the Kiev Caves Monastery in 1073. His feast is October 20 (November 2 New Style).