NICOMEDIA, MARTYRS OF. — On 24 Feb. 303 the first edict of the persecution inaugurated by Diocletian was published at N., by which the destruction of churches and the burning of the Holy Scriptures were ordered. It also marked the beginning of a terrible slaughter, in which many Christians of the city perished, commemorated in the Syriac Martyrology and in the Hieronymian Martyrology on 12 March.
The first victim was an unknown man, who had the holy audacity to tear down the edict affixed in the public square. He was followed by the court chamberlains Dorotheus, Gorgonius, Peter and many others, who enjoyed the esteem and trust of the Emperor. Dorotheus and Gorgonius were hanged; Peter was first flayed and then burned on a gridiron. The bishop of the city, Anthimus, was beheaded, along with very many of the faithful. A few days after the publication of the edict a fire broke out in the imperial palace; the blame was laid upon the Christians, many of whom were beheaded, others cast into the flames, others drowned in the open sea. The fury of the persecutors spared not even the bodies of the martyrs, which, after burial, were exhumed and cast into the sea.