Troadius

Saint Troadius belongs to the company of twenty-⁠three martyrs who were seized at Nicomedia during the persecution of the emperor Galerius Maximian, at the beginning of the fourth century. His name is commemorated on 26 August, the feast of Saints Adrian and Natalia, because the witness of these martyrs was what brought Saint Adrian to Christ.

The sources keep no details of the life of Troadius before his suffering. The Greek synaxarion counts him with his brethren Anatolius, Anthimus, Antiochus, Gentilius, Eleutherius, Hermogenes, Euethius, Euretus, Eutychius, Theagenes, Theodore, Thyrsus, John, Carterius, Claudius, Cyriacus, Mardonius, Marinus, Menodius, Plato, Synetus and Pharetrius.

The emperor had announced that he would reward anyone who informed on Christians, and as a result these men were discovered in a cave near the city. After being beaten and pressed to sacrifice to the idols, they were taken to the praetorium, where their names and confession were written down. There the young Adrian, head of the praetorium, saw them. Amazed at their strength, he asked them what reward they expected, and they answered that the good things God has prepared can be neither told nor grasped by the mind. Then Adrian asked to be enrolled among the Christians himself.

All of them were shut in prison, where Saint Natalia, Adrian's wife, served and encouraged them. They were sentenced to have their hands and legs broken on an anvil, and they passed to the Lord in their torments. The fire lit to consume their bodies was put out by a storm, and the faithful carried the relics to Argyropolis near Byzantium.

Saint Troadius remains in the memory of the Church as one of the martyrs unknown in their lives but known by their faith, who received the crown of martyrdom together. He is celebrated on 26 August.