Martyr
Martyr Cleonicus of Amasea
† ок. 308
Martyr Cleonicus of Amasea — together with his brother Eutropius (Cappadocia) and their close friend Basiliscus, nephew of Great Martyr Theodore Tyro — companions of St. Theodore who continued preaching in prison after his death; after torture by the governor Asclepiades, Eutropius and Cleonicus were crucified, while Basiliscus, separated from them, was beheaded two months later at Comana.
Martyrs Eutropius and Cleonicus were blood brothers, natives of Cappadocia, and their close friend Basiliscus, from Amasea (Comana in Pontus) — a nephew of Great Martyr Theodore Tyro. All three, calling each other brothers out of close friendship, were fellow-soldiers of Great Martyr Theodore; after his martyrdom they continued to preach Christ, converting pagan fellow-prisoners in the jail with them.
They were subjected to cruel torture (torn with iron claws, wounds doused with vinegar and salt, boiling tar) by the governor Asclepiades under Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. During an earthquake that occurred when they were brought to a pagan temple for a forced act of worship, the temple collapsed and destroyed the statue of Artemis. Eutropius and Cleonicus were then crucified. Basiliscus, separated from them, was put to death by beheading about two months later at Comana, under a different governor (Agrippa).
The feast of Eutropius and Cleonicus is kept on March 3/16; Basiliscus is commemorated separately on May 22/June 4.
NOTE: the original stub was an unprocessed image caption from pravicon.com for a fresco by Theophanes the Cretan (Stavronikita Monastery, Mount Athos, 1546) — it has been reworked into a coherent life; the previously empty feast-date and life-dates fields have been filled in.