Julius the Veteran

Holy Martyr Julius the Veteran (Julius of Durostorum) was a veteran Roman soldier, martyred at Durostorum (today Silistra, in Bulgaria), in the Great Persecution of Diocletian, in the year 304. He is venerated in the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church and the Church of England and is commemorated on 27 May. The sources do not agree on the name of the prefect: Maximus in the English source, Maxentius in the Romanian one; on the day of death the English source says between January and March 304, the Romanian one 27 May 304.

He was born to pagan parents, and the time of his conversion is not known. He served as a soldier for 27 years, first as a conscript, then as a veteran, seven campaigns in all. From the years and places in which he served, Father Herbert Musurillo holds that he probably served in the Legio XI Claudia. Julius was a Christian throughout his military career. The Romanian source calls him a contemporary of the martyrs Pasicrates and Valentio.

In accordance with the fourth edict of the persecution of Diocletian, Julius was brought to trial before the prefect, after being arrested by the prefect's staff soldiers for refusing to make a public sacrifice to the Roman gods. Hearing of his military service, the prefect complimented him as a wise and serious man. In gratitude for his military service he proposed a bargain: if Julius offered the public sacrifice, the prefect would take on himself the blame for the sin of the sacrifice and give him freedom, a ten-⁠year bonus payment and immunity from future charges. The Romanian source says that the prefect promised him a substantial pay. Julius flatly refused to renounce faith in Christ for money; he told the official that he was ready rather to die for Christ than to obey the pagan laws that required sacrifices to false gods. Seeing his courage and unshaken faith, the official ordered him beheaded. He was killed by the sword at Durostorum, the Roman camp in Moesia Inferior.