Marcian

The Holy Martyrs Nicander and Marcian were Christian soldiers at Durostorum, today Silistra, on the Danube, and suffered for Christ in the time of the persecution of Diocletian, at the end of the third century. They are commemorated on 8 June.

During the war that the Roman Empire waged against the Persians, in the year 298, the emperors Diocletian and Galerius decided to remove all Christians from the army. Nicander and Marcian were among those who refused to renounce faith in Christ. According to the tradition kept in the Romanian Church, they were sentenced to death by beheading. Durostorum was one of the cities of Scythia Minor and Moesia where many martyrs died.