Arianus

Arianus was a historically attested governor of Ansena in Egypt (in some sources a prefect of the Thebaid) and a notable figure of the persecution of Diocletian; in the end he became a Christian and died a martyr, around the year 305.

In Coptic stories he often appears as a persecutor who tries to force martyrs to worship idols, loses patience on seeing their firmness, and has them beheaded. He is shown with a sadistic bent for tortures: beating, combing with iron combs, nailing, burning, imprisonment, crucifixion, spearing.

According to the story of his conversion, when his own musician Apollonius confessed that he was a Christian, Arianus ordered him shot with arrows. Apollonius died, but one of the arrows struck Arianus's eye and destroyed it. A Christian advised him to take some of Apollonius's blood and smear it on his eye. Arianus did so and at once saw again; he then believed in Christ and repented of his cruel persecution. When Diocletian heard of it, he asked Arianus why he had left paganism. Arianus told him of the miracles he had seen the martyrs work, which enraged the emperor, who had him tortured and buried alive in a pit. An angel brought him out of there and led him to the emperor's bed. When Diocletian woke up and recognised him, he was terrified, had him put in a hair sack and thrown into the sea, where he drowned. He is venerated as a martyr by the Coptic Church.