NICOMEDIA, MARTYRS of. - On 24 February 303, the first edict of the persecution inaugurated by Diocletian was published at N., ordering the destruction of churches and the burning of the Holy Scriptures. 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 boldness to tear down the edict posted in the public square. He was followed by the court chamberlains Doroteo, Gorgonio, Pietro, and many others, who nevertheless enjoyed the esteem and confidence of the Emperor. Doroteo and Gorgonio were hanged; Pietro was first stripped and then burned on a gridiron. The bishop of the city, Antimo, was beheaded, together with a great many of the faithful. A few days after the publication of the edict, a fire broke out in the imperial palace; the Christians were blamed, and many of them were beheaded, others cast into the flames, and still others drowned on the high seas. The ferocity of the persecutors did not even spare the bodies of the martyrs, which, after having been buried, were exhumed and thrown into the sea.