“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they followed My word, they will follow yours also.” —John 15:20

The Martyrdom of St. Polyeuctus, January 10, AD 259

hroughout the history of the Roman Empire, devout Christians can be found among the ranks of its elite military. They served despite tensions of conscience arising from the army’s integral polytheistic practices, a tradition of pagan sacrifices, and association with unjust violence, all being in conflict with Christian morality.

We recall the Biblical accounts which highlight those positive portrayals of Roman centurions, such as the one in Capernaum whose profound faith prompted Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant, whereupon our Savior marveled that “I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith”. There was also the centurion at the crucifixion who, witnessing Jesus’ death, confessed, “Truly this Man was the Son of God”. Then again, we have Cornelius, in the book of Acts, who became the first Gentile convert baptized by the Apostle Peter. Each account of these Roman soldiers and their testimony exemplifies the redeeming love of God, and is placed in stark contrast to the rejection that Jewish religious leaders displayed towards the promised Messiah.

Christ and the Centurion, by Sebastiano Ricci

Later instances in history underscore the growing presence and impact of Christian soldiers in the Empire’s legions, all of whom navigated persecution while contributing to the grand dissemination of the faith. By the late second century, evidence like funerary inscriptions confirm that they faced expulsion or martyrdom during “purges” by various emperors. Famously, Saint George (patron saint of England), a high-ranking tribune in the Praetorian Guard under Diocletian, exemplified this: born around AD 280 in Cappadocia, he was brutally tortured and beheaded in AD 303 for defying orders to sacrifice to Roman gods. All of these brave witnesses for Christ eventually paved the way for Emperor Constantine’s conversion in AD 312 and Christianity’s eventual dominance over the Roman Empire, transforming Europe’s religious landscape forever.

Emperor Constantine (AD 272-337)

One such soldier, born in the shadowed annals of the third-century Roman Empire, was named Polyeuctus. Possessed of considerable wealth and stature, he belonged to a Greek family during a time when the Roman Empire stretched far to the east, occupying vast swaths of land in what later became known as Byzantium—now including modern day Turkey and the Balkans.

A map of Europe, the Mediterranean region and beyond, showing the extent of the Roman Empire as of AD 125

Polyeuctus rose to the rank of a distinguished officer and was stationed in the rugged outpost of Melitene, in what is now modern day Armenia, a vital frontier fortress. He was said to command respect among his troops, living a life marked by moral integrity despite adhering to pagan practices. He married young and was blessed with children, enjoying the privileges and education that came with high society. And yet, the hand of God was already upon him when his closest bond became that which he shared with his steadfast comrade Nearchus, a fellow officer and fervent Christian whose adoration of his God pierced the veil of Polyeuctus’ worldly complacency.

Polyeuctus (unknown-AD 259)

Modern-day Malatya, Turkey, near the ancient city of Melitene

Nearchus, already baptized and bold in his faith despite the fierce persecutions surrounding him, grieved deeply over Polyeuctus’ unbelief, fearing that death would eternally separate them. This era was fraught with peril for believers, as an edict came down from Emperor Valerian* around AD 257–260, unleashing a ferocious wave of oppression. This edict carried with it the added atrocity of demanding ritual sacrifices to the pagan gods to shore up the crumbling empire’s loyalty and its supposed need for “divine favor” amid cascading crises: barbarian invasions, plague, economic ruin, and humiliating defeats by the Persians.

Emperor Valerian (c. AD 199-260 or 264)

Roman artifact showing a family burning incense on an altar to one of their pantheon of gods or goddesses

Amidst such hostility and turmoil, the heart of Polyeuctus was nevertheless stirred by his beloved Nearchus’ anguished prayers for him. He became fascinated by the Gospel his friend espoused, its principles of mercy and charity which were in opposition to all that he had known before. Then came a Divine intrusion: a profound dream in which Polyeuctus later said Christ Himself appeared to him and ignited an unquenchable fire of conviction within his soul. In that instant, from the moment he awoke, the Spirit’s regenerating power transformed this pagan soldier into a bold confessor of Christ.

Polyeuctus’ and Nearchus’ legion—The Legio XII Fulminata or “Thunderbolt Twelfth Legion”—in battle against the Quadis

With the unbridled zeal of a new convert, and with passion surpassing prudence, Polyeuctus stormed into the public square, ripped asunder the imperial edict that condemned Christians, and proceeded to tear down the lifeless idols surrounding him that mocked the living God. We can imagine what a disruption such a scene made, with him being so distinguished a figure in his district, and committing these acts of defiance while in the uniform of a soldier of the Empire.

Almost immediately he was seized by the authorities and tortured, while his weeping wife, children, and father-in-law implored him to recant his new religion for the sake of an earthly reprieve. Yet, fortified by the indwelling Spirit of God, this brave man was immovable, his faith anchored in Christ alone, declaring the fleeting glories of this world as mere dross compared to the eternal riches of knowing the one true Savior.

The martyrdom of Polyeuctus

As Polyeuctus was led to execution, he spotted his beloved Nearchus in the crowd. Polyeuctus cried out to him joyfully: “Save yourself, my dear friend! Remember the vow of love confirmed between us!”—which was a sacred pledge of brotherhood, to remain faithful unto death for Christ’s sake.

Beheaded on January 10, AD 259, Polyeuctus’ martyrdom reminds us that God’s dear ones are preserved through fiery trials by His unassailable providence.

Nearchus, the faithful instrument of grace in Polyeuctus’ conversion, soon followed his beloved comrade into glory through a separate yet equally glorious crown. Having gathered Polyeuctus’s blood in a cloth as a precious relic and chronicled the acts of his martyrdom for the encouragement of the church, Nearchus himself was arrested amid ongoing persecution and condemned to be burned alive—a torment distinct from his friend’s swift beheading. His fiery death sealed their shared vow, reuniting them eternally before the throne of the Lamb.

The martyrdom of Nearchus

The legacy of their joint witness endures far beyond the obsolete frontiers of the Roman Empire, a fortifying reminder that through Christ we are unified and strengthened, though some of us may be bereft of family or security, in Him we have all that we need, and in each other we should find that community and encouragement for which we have been made a body of believers.

*NOTE: As is often the case with the lives of early saints, the established narrative of their testimony has been cobbled together —in many cases centuries after their deaths—and from sources now lost to us. Such biographies of the lives of these saints are called hagiographies, and were written in part to justify their saintly canonization by the Catholic or Orthodox Churches. Their factual veracity is thus under some weight of scrutiny, and in the case of Polyeuctus, the earliest narratives of his life disagree on dates and whether the edict of persecution came down from Emperor Valerian or Emperor Decius, yet the discrepancy is only a matter of a decade.

Image Credits: 1 Christ and the Centurion (wikipedia.org) 2 Emperor Constantine (wikipedia.org) 3 Roman Empire in AD 125 (wikipedia.org) 4 Polyeuctus (wikipedia.org) 5 Malatya, Turkey (wikipedia.org) 6 Emperor Valerian (wikipedia.org) 7 Family offering incense (wikipedia.org) 8 “The Thundering Legion” (wikipedia.org) 9 Martyrdom of Polyeuctus (wikipedia.org) 10 Martyrdom of Nearchus (wikipedia.org)

“You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice.” —Exodus 23:2

Lincoln Orders the Largest Mass Execution in American History, December 26, 1862

he Civil War is largely lauded for its impact in regards to ensuring an “indivisible union”, the emancipation of slaves, and laying the foundation for America’s emergence as a world power in the 20th century. There was, however, a tremendous price paid for this, and few instances display that so grimly as the treatment of America’s Native Tribes out west.

A Sioux Village in Wyoming, 1859

The following story is to highlight only one such event: the mass hanging of 38 Dakota men in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862. These men were sentenced without due process or recourse, and were hand-picked by President Lincoln himself to make an example of them. Though the story itself is brief, the reflection it casts on the emergence of an arbitrary central power is boundless and chilling.

Many historians have put forth that Abraham Lincoln’s declaration of war against the South marked a paradigm shift toward centralized government power, dismantling the checks and balances that had previously served to restrain federal overreach and protect the rights of states and individuals. This consolidation of power not only transformed the conduct of war between western nations—allowing for the wholesale targeting of non-combatants and bypassing Congressional authority for declarations of hostilities—but also set a grievous precedent for penalizing dissenting people groups.

Sioux women cooking and caring for children in their encampment

The most grievous victims of this emerging American behemoth were its civilians. These included Northern detractors of the Civil War, Southerners subjected to previously unimagined atrocities, and Native Americans such as the Dakota people.

An 1851 Treaty between the Sioux people and the government of Minnesota

The bare facts of this story are thus: in 1851, ten years before the start of the Civil War, certain tribes belonging to the Sioux Nation* in Minnesota sold twenty-four million acres of land to the federal government for $1,410,000. Ten years later, thousands of settlers were pouring onto both these lands and also those which the Natives retained. There was such corruption in the federal government—preoccupied with the Civil War as it was—that almost none of the promised money was ever paid to the Sioux. To make matters worse, in 1862 a crop failure meant that the Sioux were starving, yet lacked their previous broad territory or the promised pecuniary assets to alleviate this. Considering the treaty thus broken, the Sioux revolted.

After the treaty was broken, the Sioux revolted, attacking local farmers and settlers

A short “war” ensued. To ensure a quick end to this revolt, Lincoln put General John Pope in charge of an expedition sent west for that purpose. Pope had distinguished himself earlier in 1862 by dealing harshly with the defenseless citizenry of the Shenandoah Valley, and he was encouraged to use the same tactics out west. Pope wrote a subordinate upon embarking for this new post,

“It is my purpose to utterly exterminate the Sioux…They are to be treated as maniacs or wild beasts, and by no means as people with whom treaties or compromises can be made.”

General John Pope (1822-1892), photographed 1860-65

Nevermind that it was his own government, and his Commander-in-Chief, President Lincoln, whose faithlessness had broken the treaty in the first place. Pope and his modernized army predictably overwhelmed the natives by October, 1862. The revolt thus put down, General Pope now held hundreds of “prisoners of war,” many of whom were native women and children who had been labeled as combatants for defending their homes.

President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), photographed in 1862

These unfortunate souls were herded into military forts and there, over the course of a few months, military “trials” were held. Each trial lasted from five to fifteen minutes, conducted without an interpreter, without legal representation, and by a tribunal of officers who had in previous days been desecrating the homes of the accused. The lack of hard evidence, however, was manifest; many men were condemned just because they were present during a battle happening on their home turf.

In total, three hundred and three natives belonging to the Dakota tribe were sentenced to death for rising up against federal soldiers.

Sioux internment camp, Pike Island, winter 1862

When the transcripts of these proceedings reached Lincoln, he expressed fear that such a heavy-handed display of military justice might incite censure. He wrote,

“I ordered a careful examination of the records of the trials to be made, in view of first ordering the execution of such as had been proved guilty of violating females.”

Only two men were found guilty of this, although how that was determined with the language barrier and lack of witnesses was not clear. The execution of two men was far too mild a response to satisfy the Minnesota government, on whose good graces Lincoln was heavily reliant for men and food to continue his war. As a result, Lincoln expanded this list of condemned men to thirty-nine, chosen for their supposed crimes against civilians. To sweeten this executive choice, Lincoln promised Minnesota’s politicians that in due course the Federal army would remove every last Indian from Minnesota—treaty or no. He kept that promise.

Fort Snelling, at the convergence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, where nearly 2,000 Sioux were kept, awaiting “trial”

So it was that on December 26, 1862 President Lincoln’s hand-picked selection of thirty-eight men were executed by hanging, all at once, on a special scaffold made for the purpose. One had been pardoned last minute. An estimated 4,000 spectators crammed the streets of Mankato and the surrounding area to watch.

It remains the largest mass execution in American history—and yet the guilt of the executed was far from being determined beyond reasonable doubt.

The mass execution of 38 Sioux men in Mankato, Minnesota, December 26, 1862

According to historian Thomas DiLorenzo’s conclusions in his richly-cited book, The Real Lincoln:

“Lincoln would look bad if he allowed the execution of three hundred Indians, so he would execute only thirty-nine of them. But in return he would promise to have the Federal army murder or chase out of the state all the other Indians, in addition to sending the Minnesota treasury $2 million.”

Thus, the original violators of the treaty—the Minnesota government—would be payed with the money first promised to the Sioux Tribes in the broken treaty.

A memorial once stood to mark where the executions took place—it was removed in 1971

This tragic event remains a cautionary horror regarding the overreach of government, and how it is a cold and impersonal entity, bent by nature towards perpetuating injustices through any newfound might. Very often these powers are relinquished or bestowed by a fearful populace, eager for the promised benefits, blind to the impending tyranny. Oliver Cromwell once warned us,

“Necessity hath no law. Feigned necessities, imagined necessities… are the greatest [trickery]** that men can put upon the Providence of God, and make pretenses to break known rules by.”

*The “Sioux” Nation is a confederation of related tribes comprised of the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota peoples, each speaking dialects of the Siouan language, with the Dakota being the easternmost group.

**original word used was “cozenage”, meaning trickery or deception

Image Credits: 1 Sioux Village (wikipedia.org) 2 Sioux Women (wikipedia.org) 3 1851 Treaty (wikipedia.org) 4 Sioux Revolt (wikipedia.org) 5 General John Pope (wikipedia.org) 6 President Abraham Lincoln (wikipedia.org) 7 Pike Island internment camp (wikipedia.org) 8 Fort Snelling (wikipedia.org) 9 Mass Execution (wikipedia.org) 10 Stone Marker (wikipedia.org)

“When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.” —Revelation 6:9-11

The Legacy of Martyred Sir John Oldcastle, the Original Falstaff, December 15, 1417

istorical fiction has, over the centuries, maintained both its popularity and also its extreme influence on how actual historical events are remembered in the public consciousness. Whether it be Homer’s dramatization of ancient conflicts, or Virgil’s weaving of a founding myth for Roman civilization, or Harriet Beecher Stowe’s divisive powder keg of a novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, to more recent works like the Left Behind series that fundamentally changed an entire generation’s interpretation of the end times: the power of fiction based on fact is enduring.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

In their own time, Shakespearean plays pioneered a form of wholesale historical dramatization—and at times revision—of past events that remains the accepted version for many of us to this day. Whether William Shakespeare was indeed a real man, or simply the alias of a more formidably-educated and politically-motivated nobleman, is a theory to be explored another day. What is an undisputed fact is that the man behind these plays was a genius and throughly intentional in his use of entertainment to reveal political truths and sway public opinion.

But cleverer still than all that, I think, are the ways in which Shakespeare wove in side characters, figures who mirrored real life supporting characters of great events. He often changed their names or tweaked their motivations, but his incorporation of these more minor personages displays his acceptance of their impact on events, as well as his deep knowledge of his subject.

A parade of Shakespeare’s characters, many based on real people

One such supporting character he named Falstaff. This knight appears in what is often referred to as Shakespeare’s “Henriad”—a series of plays detailing the reigns of Henrys the IV, the V and the VI of England, with an errant Richard II thrown into the middle. Falstaff appears therein as an uncouth, cowardly and entirely disreputable companion of a young King Henry V, in the eponymous play Henry V—best remembered for its rousing speech in which Shakespeare coined the phrase, “we few, we happy few, we band of brothers!”.

The Thanksgiving Service on the Field of Agincourt by Edmund Blair Leighton portrays King Henry V and his men giving thanks at Agincourt—it was the precursor to this same battle that Shakespeare memorialized via King Henry’s rousing “we few, we happy few, we band of brothers!” speech

The “real” man on whom Falstaff was based was actually a Sir John Oldcastle of Cowling Castle. In fact, in his original drafts of the play, Shakespeare used Oldcastle’s name, but such was the outrage of Oldcastle’s surviving relations regarding his plans to portray their ancestor as a corrupting sidekick, that the playwright was forced to come up with the alias “Falstaff” instead.

Shakespeare’s Falstaff character in a tavern with a young future King Henry V

The real Sir John was indeed a royal favorite of Henry V, but also a follower of John Wycliffe, both members of a religious sect called Lollards by their opponents. Sir John Oldcastle’s ardor in the cause of equipping the common Englishman with a Bible in his native tongue, and the price he later paid for it, led to him being considered the first martyr for Christ among England’s nobility.

The remaining entrance gate of Cowling (or Cooling) Castle

Sir John rises to prominence in historical accounts at the time of his marriage into nobility in 1409, after having distinguished himself in various Tudor wars fought in Wales and Scotland. It was during these campaigns that he grew close with a young Prince Hal, who would later become the legendary Henry V. Once a member of the nobility, Sir John took his seat in the House of Lords, and there exercised his patronage of those followers of Wycliffe who sought to reform the church. No such ecclesiastical reform has ever been undertaken by the people of God without a political consequence resulting, and so Wycliffe’s Lollards were considered a great threat by the establishment.

John Wycliffe (1328-1384)

In Sir John’s time, the persecution of the Lollards had grown so commonplace that the first law passed in England allowing for the burning of a criminal was in the case of burning these “heretics” for their religious sentiments. Despite such adverse conditions, Sir John Oldcastle had many copies of Wycliffe’s writings copied and circulated throughout Canterbury, Rochester, London and Hertford. If any Lollard preacher was forbidden to preach or was arrested, Oldcastle would advocate and protect him—and King Henry V in turn protected his old friend. Sir John also reached out to fellow believers in Europe, and thus created an international community espousing the doctrines of Christ Alone put forth by Wycliffe and Hus.

Housed on the grounds of the University of Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Monument to the Reformation—more commonly called Reformation Wall—depicts William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox, among other key historical characters

In response to his fearless convictions, the established clergy set about to convince King Henry that his old friend was the motivating drive behind an international conspiracy targeting the Church and the King—the wicked have no new tactics, the playbook remains familiar. King Henry then sent for Sir John and pleaded with him personally to explain himself and recant his heretical stances regarding the corruption of the clergy and the authority of the pope. Sir John told his liege that he had been willing and desirous to obey him in all things, but this he could not do. Being thus rebuffed, the king banished Sir John back to his abode at Cowling Castle.

The clergy were undeterred and soon summoned Sir John to trial, going so far as to forge a decree from the king for him to be examined and punished as they saw fit. Thus, in 1413, under false pretenses, Sir John Oldcastle was put on trial by the ecclesiastical court where he refused to recognize papal authority over the Scriptures. When the court demanded a confession from him, he instead confessed aloud to God in their midst, saying “I confess to Thee, O God! and acknowledge that in my frail youth I seriously offended Thee by my pride, anger, intemperance, and impurity: for these offenses I implore thy mercy!” Then to the court he said, “I ask not your absolution: it is God’s only that I need.” When the sentence of death was read out, Sir John said, “It is well, though you condemn my body, you can do no harm to my soul by the grace of my eternal God.”

The entirety of the Tower of London complex as it stands today within London

For this he was summarily excommunicated and condemned to death as a heretic, but the king granted him a stay of execution for forty days, hoping he would recant. During that time Sir John was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but in a mysterious providence, he managed to escape before his execution and took refuge in Wales, sheltered by his fellow Lollards in the land he had once helped King Henry to subdue. There he is believed to have led an armed revolt, although the corrupted history of the time—as is made apparent by the previous false accusations made against him—casts doubt on the likelihood of this being true. Nevertheless, it is now referred to as Oldcastle’s Revolt and the version of it told to King Henry estranged the two friends forever.

The White Tower—the oldest standing portion of the Tower of London—dates from 1078 and was built by William the Conqueror

King Henry V (1386-1422)

The freedom he enjoyed in Wales did not last. Sir John Oldcastle was recaptured after a span of four years on the run, and taken back to London to serve his previous sentence. This time King Henry, being absent due to continuing his conquest of France, did not intervene. Before his execution Sir John proclaimed to the gathered mob:

“. . . I suppose this fully, that every man in this earth is a pilgrim toward bliss, or toward pain; he that knoweth the holy commandments of God, and keepeth them to his end, he shall be saved, though he never in his life go on pilgrimage, as men now do, to Canterbury, or to Rome, or to any other place.”

Sir John Oldcastle was then brought to London’s St. Giles in the Field, and there on December 15, 1417, was suspended by chains over a slow fire and cruelly burned to death. Of his legacy in the faith renowned church chronicler, John Foxe, wrote:

“Thus resteth this valiant Christian knight, Sir John Oldcastle, under the altar of God, which is Jesus Christ, among that godly company, who, in the kingdom of patience, suffered great tribulation with the death of their bodies, for His faithful word and testimony.”

The martyrdom of John Oldcastle

Image Credits: 1 William Shakespeare (wikipedia.org) 2 Shakespeare’s characters (wikipedia.org) 3 The Thanksgiving Service on the Field of Agincourt, Leighton (wikipedia.org) 4 Falstaff (wikipedia.org) 5 Cooling Castle (wikipedia.org) 6 John Wycliffe (wikipedia.org) 7 Reformation Wall, Geneva (wikipedia.org) 8 Tower of London (wikipedia.org) 9 The White Tower (wikipedia.org) 10 King Henry V (wikipedia.org) 11 Martyrdom of John Oldcastle (wikipedia.org)