Venerable Julius the Presbyter, of the Myrmidons

Venerable Julius the Presbyter and his own brother Julian the Deacon were natives of Aegina (hence the literary, poetic epithet "of the Myrmidons" — after the mythical Myrmidons, the legendary inhabitants of Aegina/Thessaly, marking their Eastern origin); they were educated at the renowned schools of Athens.

Under the patronage of Emperor Theodosius I, the brothers preached Christianity in Pannonia (present-day Hungary), Bohemia, and Poland. They later became assistants to St. Ambrose of Milan, helping him organize church life in the dioceses of Northern Italy — particularly in the Lake Orta region, where Julius founded a monastery on the island now bearing his name (Isola San Giulio), while Julian oversaw church construction in Gozzano. They are venerated locally in Italy as patron-protectors against snakes and wolves — evidence of their independent, long-standing veneration in the West, apart from the Greek tradition.

The traditional life dates — 330-401 (repose January 31, 401) — derive from the Greek Synaxarion; the Orthodox Encyclopedia treats this precise dating with caution as a tradition, since the surviving Life (Latin manuscripts BHL 4557-4558) is a later (7th-11th century) composition, although the brothers' activity itself is confidently dated to the 4th-5th centuries.

COMMEMORATION: per Russian tradition (the Menologion of St. Dimitry of Rostov) — June 21/July 4; per Greek tradition — May 19 (translation of relics); per the Western (Latin) calendar — January 7, 9, and 31.