The 3,628 Martyrs of Nicomedia

The 3,628 Martyrs of Nicomedia were tortured for Christ in the time of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284-305). They were Alexandrians who had believed in Christ after the martyrdom of Archbishop Peter of Alexandria (commemorated 8 December). With their families they came to Nicomedia and gave themselves up willingly to be tortured. Diocletian tried first to persuade them to renounce Christianity, but, seeing their steadfastness, ordered all their heads cut off and the bodies thrown into a ravine. Another source says that after the burning of the Christian church the saints fled to the mountains to escape, but were arrested and cruelly killed. The number is given as 3,628, in some sources 3,608.

The Church of Georgia commemorates them on 2 September (old style; 15 September new style).