Philip

The Holy Martyrs Zoticus, Attalus, Kamasis and Philip are four martyrs of Dobruja whose relics were found in 1971 in a crypt at Niculițel, Tulcea County. They suffered for Christ by beheading with the sword, in the time of Diocletian and Maximian (284-311), as they are recorded in the Syriac martyrology and that of Blessed Jerome. They are commemorated on 4 June.

The martyrologies of the third and fourth centuries mention, besides twenty-⁠five other martyrs, four from the east of Europe, named Zoticus, Attalus, Kamasis and Philip. They are believed to have been soldiers in the Roman army, condemned for their faith in Christ. It is not known exactly when and where they suffered: some say they were exiled to the mouths of the Danube, in northern Dobruja, where many Christians were sent; according to tradition they were tried at Noviodunum. Some scholars think they were martyred under Diocletian, others between 319 and 324, under Licinius, and others north of the Danube, in the persecution of the Goth Athanaric, between 370 and 372.

In the fourth and fifth centuries a stone basilica dedicated to Saint Athanasius the Great was built at Niculițel and renewed in the thirteenth century, and their relics were placed in it. In September 1971, because of rains, the Niculițel stream flooded the place and brought to light, under the old foundation of the fourth-⁠century church, a crypt in which the relics of the four lay in a common coffin. On the inner wall is written in Greek "Martyres tou Christou" (Martyrs of Christ), and on the opposite wall their names: Zotikos, Attalos, Kamasis and Philippos. The crypt is unique in Romania and south-⁠eastern Europe. The relics are placed in four wooden shrines in the church of the nearby Cocoș Monastery, where they are venerated to this day.