Theodore of Amasea

According to Christian tradition, Theodore served as a recruit in the Roman army during the reign of Diocletian. Stationed in Amasea in Galatian Pontus, he was executed by immolation during the Great Persecution of the early 4th century. By the late 4th century he was venerated as a martyr. Through the Middle Ages his cult expanded dramatically: he became a prominent warrior saint, collected legends of battling dragons, and was frequently confused with Theodore Stratelates of Heraclea - possibly because one was the original and the other a later echo. Today he is revered as a Great Martyr in Eastern Orthodox Churches and honored in Roman Catholicism and Oriental Orthodoxy alike.