DEMETRIUS of THESSALONICA, St. — Martyr under Maximian about 306, whose cult, introduced late into Thessalonica by the Illyrian prefect Leontius at the beginning of the 5th century, immediately acquired the greatest celebrity throughout the Greek world both as a military saint and as patron of that metropolis, which believed itself to be in possession of his relics. The abundant literature that grew up around the senatorial and consular character of the personage, as well as his cult, rests solely upon a triple series of later legends.
The primitive martyrologies knew no St. Demetrius as a martyr at Thessalonica, but at Sirmium (Syriac Martyrology, April 9), without giving his personal details or describing him as a deacon (Martyrologium Hieronymianum, April 9). Demetrius was therefore originally from Sirmium, where his cult existed previously, and where Leontius the Illyrian also built a church? Were only some relics transferred to Thessalonica and not the body, which remained at Sirmium at the place of martyrdom? Why was the transition made from a deacon-saint to a military saint? These are the problems raised by the comparative study of the legendary accounts of St. Demetrius in the documents now known. It is certain that the basilica erected by Leontius in Thessalonica was throughout the Middle Ages a goal of pilgrimages. In the *Roman Martyrology* his feast is on October 8.
**