Gaatha

Holy Martyr Gaatha, queen of the Goths, is remembered among the Gothic martyrs who suffered around the year 375, in the time of King Ungerich, a persecutor of Christians.

The Goths were a group of Germanic peoples who lived mostly around the Danube, in present-⁠day Romania. The king ordered the church set on fire during the service, and in the flames three hundred and eight people perished, of whom the names of twenty-⁠one are known: the priests Vafusius and Verk, the monk Arpila, the laymen Abibus, Agnus, Reas, Igathrax, Iskoes, Silas, Sigetzas, Sonirilas, Suimbalus, Ferm, Phyllus and Constans, the prince Agathon, and the women martyrs Anna, Alla, Larissa, Moiko, Mamika, Uirko, Animais, Gaatha, queen of the Goths, and Duclida, princess of the Goths.

The widow of the king, Alla, with her daughter Duclida, gathered the martyrs' remains and carried them to Syria. Then she returned to her homeland, where she was stoned together with her son Agathon. The relics remained with Duclida, who came to Cyzicus in the time of Valentinian II and Theodosius the Great and gave a part of them for the consecration of a church; she died in peace. About Gaatha in particular the page gives no further details. The saints are commemorated on 8 April.