Christopher Walter. Theodore, Archetype of The Warrior Saint. Revue Des Études Byzantines, Tome 57, 1999. Pp. 163-210.

Christopher Walter
Theodore, archetype of the warrior saint

In: Revue des études byzantines, tome 57, 1999. pp. 163-210.
Résumé
REB 57 1999 France p. 163
Christopher Walter, Theodore, Archetype of the Warrior Saint. — Les origines du culte de saint Théodore sont étudiées en vue
d'élaborer une approche méthodologique qui vaudrait pour les autres saints. Sont examinés un à un les plus anciens textes
concernant Théodore, l'établissement de son sanctuaire à Euchaïtes, l'expansion de son culte, la nature de ses interventions
comme saint militaire dans la vie terrestre des hommes, l'émergence de son «jumeau» Théodore Stratèlatès qui disposait de son
propre sanctuaire à Euchaneia et, enfin, la place de l'iconographie des deux Théodore dans l'esthétique byzantine.
Abstract
The origins of the cult of Saint Theodore are studied with a view to the elaboration of a methodological approach valid for other
military saints. One by one, are examined the most ancient hagiographical texts concerning Theodore, the establishment of his
sanctuary at Euchaïta, the spread of his cult, the nature of his interventions as a military saint in the lives of terrestrial men, the
emergence of his «twin» Theodore Stratelates with his own personal sanctuary at Euchaneia, and finally the place of the
iconography of the two Theodores in Byzantine aesthetics.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Walter Christopher. Theodore, archetype of the warrior saint. In: Revue des études byzantines, tome 57, 1999. pp. 163-210.
doi : 10.3406/rebyz.1999.1970
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rebyz_0766-5598_1999_num_57_1_1970
THEODORE,
ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT
Christopher WALTER
Summary : The origins of the cult of Saint Theodore are studied with a view to the
elaboration of a methodological approach valid for other military saints. One by one, are
examined the most ancient hagiographical texts concerning Theodore, the establishment
of his sanctuary at Euchaita, the spread of his cult, the nature of his interventions as a
military saint in the lives of terrestrial men, the emergence of his «twin» Theodore
Stratelates with his own personal sanctuary at Euchaneia, and finally the place of the
iconography of the two Theodores in Byzantine aesthetics.
The late Alexander Kazhdan once remarked that the cult of Byzantine
warrior saints needed special investigation.1 I would be inclined slightly
to modify this statement and to remark rather that the attention which
warrior saints have received is uneven and higgledy-piggledy. Some, like
Saints George and Demetrius, have been examined in all their aspects :
their legends, the origin and spread of their cult, their iconography.2
Others, like Saint Mercurius, have long had their dossier competently
established, to which little that is new has needed to be added.3 Yet
others, like Saints Eustathius and Procopius have excited interest
principally for only one aspect of them, in this case their vision.4
1. A. Kazhdan, Hagiographical Notes, Byz. 53, 1983, p. 544.

2. For Saint George, see the hundreds of items listed by the Bollandists in the
bibliographies of their An. Boll, also my article, The Origins of the Cult of Saint George,
REB 53, 1995, p. 295, note 2. For Saint Demetrius, see the same article, p. 310, note 96.
3. S. Binon, Essai sur le cycle de Mercure, martyr de Dèce et meurtrier de l'empereur
Julien, Paris 1937 ; Idem, Documents grecs inédits relatifs à S. Mercure de Césarée,
Louvain 1937. More recently, P.L. Vocotopoulos, An Icon of Saint Mercurius Slaying
Julian the Apostate, Bulletin, New Series n° 2, Medieval Art - In Honour of Zagorka
Rasolkoska-Nikolovska, Skopje 1996, p. 137-140.
4. See particularly H. Delehaye, La légende grecque de saint Eustache, Mélanges
d'hagiographie grecque et latine, Brussels 1966, p. 212-239 ; N. Thierry, Le culte du cerf
en Anatolie et la vision de saint Eustathe, with appendix by C. Jolivet-Lévy, Trois
nouvelles représentations de la vision d' Eustathe en Cappadoce, Monuments et mémoires
Revue des Études Byzantines 57, 1999, p. 163-210.

164 CHRISTOPHER WALTER
However, synthetical studies, in which a scholar attempts seriously to

answer the question : what is a warrior saint ?, are mostly lacking, apart
from one outstanding example, which, being published in Serbian, may
not receive the attention which it deserves.5
I have personally long been intrigued by Byzantine warrior saints, to
whom I have devoted a number of articles, while planning an overall
study of them. One point which has become clear to me is that, while in
late Byzantine society their legends and cult (in synaxaries and
menologid) are fairly standardized, as well as their iconography (more
particularly in wallpainting), this is not the case in the earlier period. On
the contrary, here the legends, cult and iconography of those who may be
admitted as candidates for the title of warrior saint are strikingly varied.
Before embarking on an overall study, it seemed advisable to examine
attentively one particular dossier, that of Saint Theodore. I have several
reasons for making this decision. One is that, although Theodore was
outstanding in the first centuries as a warrior saint (only later was he in
part eclipsed by George), with an abundantly full dossier (most of the
literary texts concerning him as well as the known portraits have been
published), a synthetical study exists only for his iconography.6 In fact,
the studies of Theodore which have been published are mostly concerned
with points of detail — sometimes fiddling, sometimes inaccurate (even
the Byzantines themselves could be muddled about him !). Consequently
some sorting out is necessary. Further, a methodology needs to be
established — or re-established — for the study of the first warrior
saints. What I use for Theodore can, I hope, be usefully applied in due
course to other members of his «echelon» or «phalanx». It should then
be possible to generalize safely about the warrior saint, both pristine and
mature.
I intend now to examine the following aspects of Theodore : the
literary texts about his Life, Passion and Miracles ; the origins and
spread of his cult ; the special functions attributed to him, notably
slaying dragons, intervening in battle to protect cities or rulers, investing
rulers ; the early iconographical documents with particular reference to
62, 1991, p. 33-106. H. Delehaye, Les Uzendes hagiographiques, Brussels 1905, p. 142-
167; Ν. Thierry, Vision d'Eustache. Vision de Procope, ΑΡΜΟΣ. Τιμητικός τόμος
στον καθηγητή Κ. Μουτσόπουλο, III, Thessaloniki 1991, ρ. 1845-1860.
5. Η. Delehaye's Les légendes grecques des saints militaires, Paris 1909, remains of
course the essential introduction to the study of military saints, but it lacks the global
dimensions of M. Markovio's Ο ikonografiji svetih ratnika u istohriscanskoj umetnosti i ο
predstavama ovih svetitelja u Decanima, Zidno slikarstvo manastira Decana, edited
V. Djurié, Belgrade 1995, p. 567-630. For the Theodores, see A. Amore, Teodoro (di
Amasea), Bibliotheca Sanctorum 12, 238-242, and C. Weigert, Theodor Stratelates von
Euchaïta, Lexikon der christlichen Ikonographie 8, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, p. 444-
446, Theodor von Euchaïta (von Amasea), ibidem, p. 447-451.
6. L. Mavrodinova, Sv. Teodor - Razvitije i osebnosti na ikonografskija mu tip v
srednovekovnata zivopis, Bulletin de l'Institut des Arts 13, Sofia 1969, p. 33-52, while
developed for the later Byzantine representations of Saints Theodore Tiron and Stratelates
together, is skimpy for the earlier ones of Theodore (Tiron) alone.
THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 165
his status as a warrior ; Euchaïta and Euchaneia ; the emergence of a

«twin» or double - Tiron and Stratelates ; the aesthetics of warrior saints,
with special reference to the phenomenon of «twinning» in Byzantine
hagiography and iconography.
The Literary Sources for Saint Theodore

Theodore's hagiographical tradition began well with an Encomium
pronounced at his sanctuary. The text has generally been attributed to
Gregory of Nyssa.7 At one time there were discordant voices as to its
authenticity, which made Hippolyte Delehaye inclined to suspend
judgment, pending a critical edition of the Encomium. The text had a
wide circulation ; its most recent editor lists eighty-eight manuscripts
containing it. Apparently, he took its authenticity for granted.8 The text
does not specify the location of Theodore's sanctuary. However, it is
only in BHG 1765 that Amaseia, the place where, traditionally, he was
executed, is proposed. Euchaita, where he was reputed to have been
born, is also the place where all later accounts situate Theodore's
sanctuary. If Gregory of Nyssa pronounced the Encomium, it must date
from the late fourth century. It is a sober, conventional piece of writing,
somewhat sparse in detailed information about Theodore's personal
biography. It recounts how he was enrolled in the army, stationed at
Amaseia, one day's march from Euchaita, how he refused to sacrifice to
the gods, setting fire to a temple of Cybele, how he was tortured and put
in prison, where he was consoled by celestial visions, and how, finally,
he was burned alive (not decapitated).
7. Gregory of Nyssa, De sancto Theodoro, PG 46, 736-748 {BHG 1760, Clavis

3183) ; J.P. Cav Arnos, Gregory of Nyssa, Sermons II 1, p. CXXV-CLXXII, p. 61-71. A brief
recital about Theodore's early life {BHG 1765) was known to Delehaye, Légendes
grecques, op. cit. (note 5), from Paris, gr. 499, f. 284v-285. He characterized it as
belonging to the literary genre of «l'éloge funèbre d'après Ménandre» and not to be taken
seriously. It recounts how, his mother having died prematurely, Theodore was brought up
by his father, how he enlisted as a soldier, refused to offer cult to the gods and was
martyred at Amaseia. Delehaye later published this recital, Acta sanctorum November IV,
Brussels 1925, p. 45-46. Concurrently it was published by A. Sigalas, EEBS 2, 1925,
p. 225-226, collating other manuscripts. Later Sigalas maintained that this recital was
ancient, possibly anterior to Gregory's Encomium, Des Chrysippos von Jerusalem auf den
hi. Johannes den Täufer, 2c, Exkurs : Die alte Theodoras vita, Athens 1937, Texte und
Forschungen zur byzantinische-griechischen Philologie 20, p. 102. Even if Sigalas was
right, which seems unlikely for it is much more probable that it was extracted or compiled
from a later Life, the recital does not much advance our knowledge of Theodore.
8. C. Zuckerman, Cappadocian Fathers and the Goths, TM 11, 1991 (B. Gregory of
Nyssa' s Enkomion for St. Theodore the Recruit and the Gothic Riots in Asia Minor in
379), p. 479-486, not only establishes the authenticity of the attribution to Gregory of
Nyssa by relating the reference in the Encomium to Scythians to another in his Letter 164,
but also plausibly fixes its date to February 17th, 380. I take the opportunity of thanking
sincerely Dr Zuckerman for a number of useful references, as well as reading a draft of
this article and proposing several amendments.
If a Byzantinist is disappointed that so august an authority has

provided him with so few concrete facts about Theodore, he will
nevertheless find that the text offers two compensations. Firstly, it
witnesses to late fourth-century belief in the power of saints, not only as
intercessors but also as actively intervening in the lives of terrestrial
men. Besides exercising the traditional office of warding off demons,
Theodore also protected his clients on journeys, cured their diseases and
procured riches for them if they were poor. He was also considered to be
capable of intervening in battle as a soldier, an attribute which was
unusual at this early date. Secondly, a passage of the text describes
paintings in Theodore's sanctuary, but of this more later.
As was normally the case with popular saints, Theodore's biography
was developed zealously by hagiographers, most of whose fairly
numerous versions have been published.9 The earliest Passion, published
by Delehaye, was studied critically by Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri, and
then republished by Delehaye.10 It embellishes Gregory of Nyssa's
succinct text, by introducing in the conventional way information about
the martyr's parents and childhood, a more developed account of his
trial, tortures and death, and of the retrieval of his dead body for decent
burial. Such supplementary details were regularly borrowed and adapted
from the Passions of other martyrs. In the present case, Franchi de'
Cavalieri proposed that many new details introduced into Theodore's
Passion were borrowed from those of Polycarp, Nestor and Theagenes.
As for the transfer of Theodore's body from Amaseia, the place of his
martyrdom, to Euchaita, an unusual procedure, for Euchaïta, at that time,
was a mere settlement, not the much-frequented sanctuary which it
would become, while Amaseia was a city, Franchi de' Cavalieri suggests
an explanation : at Euchaita Theodore's relics were less liable to be
profaned.
Thus far, apart from Gregory of Nyssa's list of benefits which
Theodore could bestow on those who invoked him, there is little to
distinguish him from any other martyr ; he was simply a soldier — a
recruit to the infantry — who, like many other Christians in the army,
refused to renounce his faith. In the next text to be considered, the
perspectives change. Although their opinions diverge as to the date of
the events described in it and of its actual composition, and although
their reasons for studying it differ, all the scholars who have been
interested by the Life and Miracula BHG Π 64, have found it to be an
outstanding piece of hagiographical writing. The unique manuscript in
9. They are listed, of course, in the Bibliographica hagiographica graeca (with

Auctarium) 1760-1770.
10. Delehaye, Légendes grecques, p. 127-135 {BHG 1762d) ; Pio Franchi
de'Cavalieri, Attorno al più antico testo del martyrium S. Theodori Tironis, Note
agiografiche, fascicolo 3° (Studi e testi 22) Rome 1909, p. 91-107; Idem, Note
agiografiche, fascicolo 4 (Studi e testi 24), Rome 1912, p. 161-185. Delehaye, Ada
Sanctorum, vol. cit. (note 7), p. 12-13.
which the text has survived, Wind, theol. graec. 60, would have been
written in the tenth or eleventh century. Delehaye placed its composition
categorically after 934. For this he was followed by his fellow
Bollandist, François Halkin, in his introduction to the related Passion
due to Nicolas Ouranos (which, apparently, Delehaye did not know).
However, there are reasons for supposing that, even if the text as it has
survived was not put together before the tenth century, it contains
material assembled at a much earlier date.11 The author of the earlier
compilation knew Euchaita and its surroundings first hand. The
topographical information which he offers has attracted some scholars,
because it shows what life was like in a region chronically exposed to
marauders. 12
Military protection from the Byzantine army was sporadically
available, but more than this was needed. Here Theodore came into his
own, as this text recounts, particularly in the Miracula. In the first
miracle, he made a posthumous apparition, in order that a true likeness
might be made of him on an icon. It is mentioned specifically that he
wore military dress. It is possible (but, of course, not certain) that this
icon was the prototype of the one described in the eleventh century by
John Mauropous, an icon on which Theodore was represented as a
footsoldier, and which was, for a time, the focal point of a festival
attracting crowds of pilgrims.
The phrase in question mentions that the text was composed in the
fourteenth year of the emperor Constantine, and the seventh indiction.
Taken literally, the phrase yields the year 754, a date which Hippolyte
Delehaye considered to be out of the question for a text which introduces
the practice of painting icons, of offering cult to them and of asking for
the intercession of saints painted on icons, because it falls during the
reign of Constantine V in the period of First Iconoclasm. Delehaye's
argument would be valid if imperial decrees prohibiting the cult of icons
had been applied strictly throughout the Byzantine empire. However,
evidence is accumulating in favour of the view that this was not the case.
The mosaic portraits of Saint Demetrius in Thes Saloniki which survived
Iconoclasm are notorious evidence that the cult of popular saints in their
sanctuary was tolerated. Theodore was a highly popular saint. There is
11. Delehaye, Légendes grecques, p. 183-201 ; Idem, Ada sanctorum, vol. cit. (note 7),
p. 49-55. Fr. Halkin, Un opuscule inconnu du Magistre Ouranos (La Vie de Théodore le
Conscrit, BHG 1762m), An. Boll. 80, 1962, p. 308-324, reprinted, Martyrs grecs, He-VIIIe
siècles, (Variorum Reprints) London 1974, n° IX.
12. Notably, J.F. Haldon & H. Kennedy, The Arab-Byzantine Frontier in the Eighth
and Ninth Centuries - Military Organisation and Society in the Borderlands, ZRVI 19,
1980, p. 91. F. R. Trombley, The Decline of the Seventh-Century Town : The Exception
of Euchaita, Byzantine Studies in Honor of Milton V. Anastos, edited by Sp. Vryonis Jr.,
Malibu 1985, p. 65-90 (citing Abrahamse). Idem, The Arab Wintering Raid Against
Euchaita in 663, Fifth Annual Byzantine Studies Conference (Abstracts of Papers), p. 5-6.
A. Kazhdan, Hagiographical Notes, 17. The Flourishing City of Euchaïta? , Erytheia 9.2,
1988, p. 197-199.
consequently little difficulty in accepting that BHG 1764 was compiled

originally soon after 754, nor is it necessary to amend the text by
introducing the name of Romanus I Lecapenus (for whom the fourteenth
year of his reign coincided with the seventh indiction yielding the date
934). Equally superfluous are the amendments proposed by Abrahamse
and Trombley. The «commonsense» reading of the phrase may be
retained.13
The text recounts another miracle : Theodore slays a dragon.14 If the
eighth-century date is retained for the original version of it, then
BHG 1764 provides the earliest literary account of the prodigy.
Iconographical evidence also exists, which, if it does not confirm the
date, at least corroborates it and makes it more plausible. But of this
more later.
This icon was to serve as a point of reference, for, in another miracle,
it enabled a respectable lady to recognize the martyr in a vision, this time
on horseback, helping to ward off a barbarian attack, at just the place
where he had been painted.15 It seems, however, that the celestial powers
were not always favorably disposed towards the inhabitants of Euchaïta,
for, on this occasion, angels ordered Theodore to leave the way open for
the barbarian invaders. Theodore prayed that God should not abandon
the people of whom he was the protector. God relented ; in consequence,
although the city was destroyed, the inhabitants of Euchaïta were saved.
Other miracles occurred. On one occasion, the Arabs failed to destroy
Theodore's sanctuary, because their leader had fallen to the ground
inside it, rolling about and biting his tongue. On another occasion,
Theodore's relics were stolen, but after an earthquake were restored to
Eleutherius the Great, at that time the bishop of the city ; subsequently he
rebuilt Theodore's shrine. There was also another intervention by
Theodore to wreak vengeance on the Persians, who had sacked Euchaïta
before being defeated by Heraclius. Routed by a Roman force, the few
who escaped were killed by hail as big as stone projectiles. 16
This collection of miracles differs radically from the earliest surviving
one (BHG 1765c), attributed to Chrysippus,17 a priest of Jerusalem who
died in 479. Delehaye described them as «des anecdotes piquantes, d'un
13. C. Zuckerman, The reign of Constantine V in the Miracles of St. Theodore the
Recruit (BHG 1764), REB 46, 1988, p. 191-210.
14. Ibidem, p. 200, note 32.
15. Miracle n° 4, Ibidem, p. 196-198.
16. Miracle n° 3, ibidem , p. 206-210. Zuckerman dates the incident to the late autumn
of 622. J.D. How ARD- Johnston, The siege of Constantinople in 626, Constantinople and
its Hinterland, edited C. Mango & G. Dagron, Aldershot 1995, p. 131-142, especially
p. 134 note 11, prefers to date the incident slightly later, shortly before Heraclius relieved
the Persian siege of Constantinople in 626.
17. Published by A. Sigalas, Des Chrysippos von Jerusalem Enkomion auf den hi.
Theodoros Teron, Leipzig 1921, and again by Delehaye, Ada Sanctorum vol. cit. (note
7), p. 55-72, who also summarized and analysed them, Les recueils antiques de miracles
des saints, An. Boll. 43, 1925, p. 41-45.
THEODORE, ARCHETYPE OF THE WARRIOR SAINT 1 69
caractère populaire, qui mettent en lumière l'idée qu'on se faisait du

saint». Thus Theodore only figures once as a soldier (in the first miracle,
where he rescues on horseback a child who had been sold as a slave to
the Ishmaelites, a type of miracle which recurs often enough in
Byzantine hagiography !). He rarely leaves his sanctuary, which is not
specified to be Euchaita. His speciality is to help those who have been
wronged in their material interests, and he is surprisingly indulgent to
thieves. In the last miracle, he extinguishes a fire in a palace near his
oratory. This latter was rebuilt by a person who was not named by
Chrysippus, although he is called Sphoracius in the abridged version of
the text, which Delehaye published alongside that of Chrysippus. He
considered Chrysippus to have been a compiler and adaptor. His
anecdotes imply no necessary firsthand knowledge, whether of the
events recounted or of Euchaita. By contrast, the miracles recounted in
BHG 1764 were all perpetrated in Euchaita or nearby. The first would
have occurred shortly after Theodore's death (his apparition in military
dress in order to enable an artist to paint a faithful likeness of him). The
fourth and the succeeding ones would have occurred in the lifetime of
the compiler of the original text. His apparition on horseback in order to
defend Euchaita on the occasion of an enemy attack (of this more later)
would have occurred in 753.
It is not to be expected that the numerous later texts would add much
information — authentic or not — about Theodore's life. However, one
or two examples may be adduced in passing. The Life composed by
Nicephorus Ouranos (BHG 1762m) has the advantage that it was written
by someone who is otherwise known and who lived at the end of the
tenth century.18 It is evident that, apart from the prologue and the two
concluding chapters, the text closely follows BHG 1764. Nicolas
Ouranos probably did not know Euchaita personally, in spite of the fact
that he recounts (a conventional phrase ?) that the miraculous portrait of
Theodore was still venerated there in his sanctuary at the end of the tenth
century. A prodigy recounted, according to which Theodore rescued his
mother from the jaws of a dragon, which had captured her while she was
drawing water from a spring (BHG 1766), was rejected by Delehaye (no
doubt rightly) as an embroidery of the conventional accounts of
Theodore's encounter with a dragon, the more so because the prodigy
was situated in the kingdom of a certain king Samuel (or Saul ?).19
Finally, the text should not be forgotten which attributes relatives to
Theodore, all themselves soldiers and martyrs ! It was published long
ago by Hippolyte Delehaye (BHG 656). 20 Eutropius and Cleonicus,
natives of Cappadocia, were sons of the same mother ; Basiliscus,
18. Halkin, art. cit. (note 11).

19. Delehaye, Légendes grecques, p. 37-39. Idem, Acta Sanctorum, vol. cit. (note 7), p.
46-48.
20. Delehaye, Légendes grecques, p. 40-42 ; 202-203. G. D. Gordini, Cleonico,
Eutropio e Basilisco, Bibliotheca Sanctorum 4, p. 54-56.
Theodore's nephew, was born like him in Choumiala (presumably a

settlement near Euchaïta). They are said in the Constantinopolitan
Synaxary to have been Theodore's relatives and comrades in arms
(συγγενείς, συστρατιώται).21 Eutropius and Cleonicus were buried
near Amaseia. Prodigies and miracles occurred at their tombs. Basiliscus
had a different fate. He was said to have been not only a soldier but also
bishop of Cumana, where his body lay, beside which that of John
Chrysostom, having died in exile, was also provisionally buried. There is
no confirmation, neither literary nor archaeological, for all this. In fact
the texts have no historical value. However, they are interesting for two
reasons. First, they exemplify, once again, how a popular saint's life
might be embellished. Secondly, the text describes their mutual
affection, and will therefore be of concern later in this article. I have only
come across representations of Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus in
the sixteenth-century paintings at Treskavac (Macedonia).22 Here all
three are portrayed in military dress. However, undoubtedly, they must
have been represented earlier elsewhere.
The Origins and Spread of Theodore's Cult

A century ago, rationalist scholars often took it for granted that the
early Christian saints were reincarnations of pagan heroes.23 Christian
scholars, notably the Bollandists, were exposed to denunciation, because
their efforts to distinguish fact from legend led to results which were
offensive to pious Ultramontane ears. The Bollandists clung,
nevertheless, to their view that, even if much — or most — of what was
recounted about the first martyrs was spurious, evidence in favour of
their cult was generally reliable. We are still enormously indebted to
Hippolyte Delehaye and André Grabar for their research into the origins
and development of the cult of the first Christian martyrs, even if both
these eminent scholars tended to systematize unduly, each according to
his personal vision of the subject, what was — it seems likely — a more
haphazard and spontaneous process. In the present section of this article,
my approach will be pragmatic. I propose a presentation, which will
surely not be exhaustive, of the evidence available with regard to the
early cult of Theodore.
It would be optimistic to expect evidence to exist for the saint's cult
earlier in date than Gregory of Nyssa's Encomium, although Sigalas, as
21. Synaxarium Constantinopolitanum, 503.

22. M. GLiGORiJEVié-MAKSiMOVio, Slikani kalendar u Treskavcu i stihovi Hristofora
Mitilenskog, Zograf8, 1977, p. 48-54, fig. 4, 5 (It may be noted in passing that Sabbas
Stratelates, who, when he was rarely portrayed, paradoxically wore court dress, is also
represented here in military clothing.)
23. The example may be cited, after C. van de Vorst, Bulletin des publications
hagiographiques, n° 27, An. Boll. 21, 1912, p. 105, of L. Anrich, Die Anfänge des
Heiligenkults, Tübingen 1904, in which Theodore is presented as a reincarnation of the
god Men, whom Anrich gratuitously supposed to have had a temple at Euchaïta.
we have seen, was prepared to advance this claim for the fragment
Paris, graec. 499, f. 284v-285 (BHG 1765). We are obliged to be content
with Gregory's witness to the existence in the late fourth century of a
sanctuary where cult was offered to Theodore. There are analogies, but
by no means all the warrior saints (or others for that matter) were
favoured by a sanctuary where their cult originated and from which it
spread. Even if cult was offered to Theodore at Amaseia, as this
fragment maintains, it is evident that Euchaita became the principal
centre and continued to be up to the eleventh century, even after the
episcopate of John Mauropous.24 Subsequently, no doubt, Saracen
occupation made access difficult for pilgrims.
Meanwhile, however, Theodore's cult had spread, sometimes
explicitly associated with the distribution of his relics, as inscriptions
and other literary documents witness, for example an inscription at
Apamea refers to the «relics of Saint Theodore and other saints»
(λίψανα του άγιου Θεοδώρου και διαφόρων άγιων).25 Later
Mauropous was to write that the dispersion of Theodore's relics took
place, in order
appreciated».26 It isthat
not necessary
«these universal
to suppose
riches
that each
couldreference
be widely
to a
place where the cult of Theodore was established presupposed that a
fraction of his relics had been deposed there.
Maraval lists among the places where Theodore was venerated : a
fifth-century basilica at Gerasa ;27 a martyrium at Jerusalem built before
the beginning of the sixth century ;28 another at Kausai near Myra.29
François Halkin augments this list with other inscriptions : addressed to
Theodore and Sergius at Kefr Antîn dated 523 ;30 at Milos, where a
prayer inscribed on the fifth — or sixth — century ambo is addressed to
Theodore ;31 another in former barracks at Ghoûr (Syria), dated 524/5 or
530/1, mentions Longinus, Theodore and George.32 Procopius, writing in
the 550's, refers to two churches dedicated to Theodore in Haemimontus
(the district north-east of Europa and west of Rhodope).33 He also
alludes to a church in Constantinople εν τω 'Ρησίω, no doubt to be
identified with that at Bathys Rhyax, which, according to Anna
24. See below note 115.

25. P. Maraval, Lieux saints et pèlerinages d'Orient, Paris 1985, p. 346, after
H. Delehaye, Saints et reliquaires d'Apamée, An. Boll. 53, 1935, p. 238.
26. N. Oikonomidès, Le dédoublement de saint Théodore et les villes d'Euchaïta et
d'Euchaneia, An. Boll. 104, 1986, p. 328, after Iohannis Euchaïtorum metropolitae quae
in codice Vaticano graeco 676 supersunt, éd. P. Lagarde, Göttingen 1881, p. 127.
27. Maraval, op. cit. (note 25), p. 330.
28. Ibidem, p. 208.
29. Ibidem, p. 387.
30. Fr. Halkin, Inscriptions grecques relatives à l'iconographie, Études d'épigraphie
grecque et d'hagiographie byzantine (Variorum Reprints), London 1973, 1 p. 99, note 9.
31. Ibidem, III p. 122, after H. Leclercq, Mélos, DACL 1 1. i, 279.
32. Ibidem, Supplément, p. 335.
n° 26
33.=Procopius
Bonn III, p.
of 306.
Caesarea, De aedificiis, edited J. Haurt, Leipzig 1964, p. 147, n° 3,
Comnena, was widely frequented in her time.34 However, the earliest

recorded chapel in Constantinople dedicated to Theodore, which existed
in the early fifth century, is that which was attributed to the patrician
Sphoracius, consul in 452. 35 Here the most important feasts in honour of
Theodore were celebrated, but Janin wrote that in Constantinople more
than fifteen churches dedicated to him are known.36 His cult spread to
Italy.37 His portrait appears in the apse mosaic at Saints Cosmas and
Damian, Rome, built by pope Felix IV (526-530). By the seventh
century he had his own church there. He was also patron of Venice, until
its citizens acquired the relics of Saint Mark. One unusual relic of
Theodore should be recorded. According to Constantine
Porphyrogenitus, his shield was suspended in the dome of the church
dedicated to him at Dalisandos (Seleucia, a region of Isauria).38
In sum, the origins and development of Theodore's cult are clear in
their outline from the end of the fourth century. He had his own
sanctuary at Euchaïta, in favour of which many of his miracles were
performed. His renown spread — and with it his relics. Popular
especially in Syria, Palestine and Asia Minor, his cult also spread, of
course, to Constantinople and to the West, notably to Rome and Venice,
which, for a time, adopted him as patron. As to the question of the
importance of his cult at Byzantium after Iconoclasm, this is best studied
jointly with that of the «twin» whom he would later acquire, the
Stratelates.
Theodore's Special Functions

As is well known, the cult of saints is associated closely with a desire
to obtain certain favours. This is manifest in accounts of their miracles.
Some saints had special healing powers, notably the Anargyres who
performed their cures gratuitously. Some rescued captive youths, like
Saints George and Nicolas. Some protected domestic beasts and also
brought good weather, like Saint Phanourius. Their favours might be
granted universally, or limited to those who frequented their sanctuary or
who were local residents. The eulogia obtained at their sanctuary could
be taken away and prove to be potent elsewhere.
Theodore is to be numbered among those who slay a dragon. The
earliest account of this feat was long supposed to be an interpolation into
the Passio prima (BHG 1762d) in the manuscript Paris, gr. 1470, dated
34. R. Janin, La géographie ecclésiastique de l'empire byzantin, Eglises et

Monastères, Paris 19692, p. 150-151. Anna Comnena, Alexiadis I viii 3, Bonn 1839, p.
392-393 ; edited Β. Leib & P. Gautier, Paris 1937-1976, II, p. 133. Mara val, op. cit.
(note 25), p. 409, distinguishes the two churches (no doubt incorrectly).
35. Janin, op. cit., p. 152-153.
36. Ibidem, p. 148.
37. Amore, art. cit. (note 5), gives a list of foundations under the aegis of Theodore,
notably in Italy.
38. De Thematibus, ed. Bonn, III, p. 36, lines 11-12.
890. 39 The dragon was a local menace, blocking the road. The soldier of
Christ, after making the sign of the cross, cut off the dragon's head, and
from that day the road was free of access. This was the banal act of a
Christian hero, in line with those of his antique predecessors, Perseus
and Hercules. It has none of the glamour of Saint George's feat, rescuing
a princess from a dragon. In fact, its significance is primarily
symbolical : the commitment of the warrior saints to fight against evil in
the world. Warrior saints, however, were not the immediate successors of
antique heroes in this struggle. Certain intermediary figures, like
Solomon, Sisinnius and others who remain anonymous, are known
(Figure I).40 Nevertheless, it may be that Theodore was the first warrior
saint to whom this responsibility was attributed — and that much earlier
than 890 !
If the original composer of the Life and Miracula BHG 1764 was
writing around 754, then, since he recounts the encounter with the
dragon, an earlier date may be proposed for its introduction into
Theodore's legend. This date is supported by iconographical evidence on
seals (Figure 2). On one made for Peter of Euchaïta, which has been
dated between 650 and 730, a military figure does spear a snake.41 He is
not named Theodore in a legend, but, given the fact that the seal was
made for a bishop of Euchaïta, it is unlikely that this identification would
be wrong. Further corroborative evidence is provided by one of the terra
cotta plaques found at Vinica in 1985 (Figure 3).42 On it Theodore, his
name in Latin in the legend, is seated on horseback, wearing armour.
With his spear extended behind him, he impales the head of a dragon.
There is no objective evidence for the date of the terra cotta, but, with
the legend in Latin, it is likely to have been made while Vinica was still
under Roman jurisdiction, that is before Leo III the Isaurian (717-741)
brought Eastern Illyria under the jurisdiction of Constantinople in 733.43
It may therefore be plausibly advanced that Theodore was the first of
the warrior saints to acquire the office of killing a dragon, earlier than
Saint George who was concurrently slaying a man (Diocletian ?). The
39. W. Hengstenberg, Der Drachenkampf des heiligen Theodor, Oriens Christianus 2,

1912, p. 78-106, 241-280, assembled long ago the texts relevant to Theodore (Tiron) and
his dragon-slaying. As one would expect, those of the Stratelates are calqued on those of
Tiron. Only Hengstenberg' s dating of the earliest account is challenged here.
40. See my article, The Intaglio of Solomon in the Benaki Museum and the Origins of
the Iconography of Warrior Saints, Δελτίον της Χριστιανικής 'Αρχαιολογικής
'Εταιρείας 15, 1989-1990, ρ. 35-42, for this intermediary stage. See also D. Frankurter,
Religion in Roman Egypt, Princeton 1998, p. 3-4.
41. Zacos collection, n° 1288. Another, n° 1287, with the name of Nicolas (no
specification of place) and the same iconography on the reverse, has been dated as early
as 550-560. G. Zacos & A. Veglery, Byzantine Lead Seals I ii, Basle 1972, p. 792-793,
with illustrations.
42. K. Balabanov, Terakotni ikoni od Vinica, Skopje 1991, p. 31, n° 3.
43. S. Vailhé, Constantinople (Église), DTC 3, 1350-1354, La question d'lllyricum
ecclésiastique, I Ve-IXe siècle.
icon of them together at Mount Sinai is well known.44 However, the

earliest securely dated example is the bas relief at Aght'amar (915-
921).45
The precedent of king David's burial in his city (I Kings 2, 10), so that
his bones could protect Jerusalem, was widely followed in Byzantium.
Citizens placed their confidence in the ability of their local saint's relics
to ward off the city's enemies. The saint's icon served the same purpose.
For Euchaïta, Theodore's relics (at least in the first centuries, for later
trace of them was lost) offered some guarantee of his protection ; the
same was true of his icon. As noted above, these two themes were
treated in his Life and Miracula, BHG 1764. However, such protection
was not a peculiar privilege of military saints ; it was rather a universal
practice, open to the participation of any saint. More restricted was an
apparition of the saintly protector in battle to save his city from invaders.
This, again, was not strictly a monopoly of military saints, although
perhaps they predominated. For example, Andrew, an apostle, was
believed to have intervened on horseback to save the city of Patras (of
which he was patron).46 On the other hand, a military saint, Sergius,
intervened to protect Rosafa, his sanctuary, from Chosroes.47 The similar
intervention of Theodore (the foot soldier !) on horseback to save
Euchaïta, recounted also in BHG 1764, has been mentioned above.48
The resemblance of this recital to the account of a similar incident at
Thessaloniki with Saint Demetrius was observed by Zuckerman.49 They
have this trait in common : the saintly patron was ordered from above
not to hold back the barbarian invaders ; however, thanks to his pleading,
the prohibition was rescinded. Thus each saint was able to save the
people of whom he was the protector. Does one account depend on the
other ? If so, which on which ? The account by bishop John of
Thes Saloniki in his Miracula dates from the seventh century ; the recital
in BHG 1764 probably dates from about 754. Thus, if chronology is
taken as the base, the account of the intervention of Saint Demetrius,
recently metamorphosed from a deacon to a soldier, was the model.
44. K. Weitzmann, The Monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai, The Icons I,
Princeton 1976, Β 44, p. 71-73.
45. S. Der Nersessian, Aght'amar, Church of the Holy Cross, Cambridge
(Massachusetts) 1965, p. 19, fig. 49, 50.
46. G. Santha, A Harcos Szentek Bizànci Legendài, Budapest 1943, partly accessible
in the Italian résumé, Le leggende bizantine dei santi combattenti, p. 69-71 ; Constantine
Porphyrogenitus, De administrando imperil, Bonn, p. 217-220 = G. Moravcsik etc.,
edited, Washington 1967, p. 228-233.
47. V. Chapot, Resapha-Sergiopolis, BCH 27, 1903, p. 290, citing Evagrius, Historia
ecclesiastica IV 28.
48. See above, note 15.
49. Zuckerman, art. cit. (note 13), p. 196-197, citing P. Lemerle, Les plus anciens
recueils des miracles de saint Démétrius I, Paris 1979, p. 159-165. He notes that, while
Demetrius by his intercession saved both city and inhabitants, Theodore saved only the
inhabitants of Euchaïta.
On the other hand, in the pre-Iconoclast period, the cult of Saint

Demetrius had not spread much outside Thessaloniki, whereas Theodore
was already widely known. There may, however, have been contacts. On
the wellknown Sinai icon of the Virgin and Child flanked by two saints,
the identification of one as Theodore has not posed problems, in spite of
the absence of legends. As to the identification of the other... Ernst
Kitzinger, long ago, remarked that the other figure on the icon exactly
resembles the portrait, with legend, of Saint Demetrius at Santa Maria
Antiqua in Rome.50 In fact, for the identification of this saint on the icon,
the argument from conventional practice has usually been adduced :
Theodore and George constitute a couple ; therefore, since Theodore's
identity is virtually certain, that of the other saint must be George.
Conventional practice offers no similar argument in favour of Demetrius.
However, the resemblance of the recitals about their interventions in
favour of their respective cities may invite a rapprochement. Moreover
Theodore's portrait was depicted in mosaic in the sanctuary of Saint
Demetrius. Thus evidence, not previously exploited, does exist in favour
of the saint who accompanies Theodore on the Sinai icon not being
George but rather Demetrius.
The evidence which exists for the representation of the saintly
protector of a city at its gates is not abundant. The most outstanding
example would be a picture in the wall-calendar at Staro Nagoricino,
painted at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Here the execution of
Nestor is set outside the gates of a city which must be Thessaloniki
(Figure 4, 4a).51 Both martyr and executioner are represented in military
dress. In the tympanum, above the city gates, there is a figure on
horseback. This must be Saint Demetrius, but whether he was really
represented thus above the gates of Thessaloniki it is not possible to say.
A second example is that of Saint Chrysogonus — a dubious military
saint — above the gates of Zadar.52 The example may also be adduced of
an icon on Patmos of the Forty Martyrs. Above the gates of the city,
represented to the left of the scene of martyrdom, is a figure, no doubt to
be interpreted as the pagan patron or Tyche of Sebaste.53
50. E. Kitzinger, On Some Icons of the Seventh Century, The Art of Byzantium and
the Modern World, edited R. Kleinbauer, Bloomington/London 1976, p. 137, fig. 4. Two
decades ago, the painting was so deteriorated that the legend was illegible, P. J.
Nordhagen, Santa Maria Antiqua. The Frescoes of the Seventh Century, Acta ad
archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia 8, 1978, p. 105-106, pi. XVIII, LXV 7
(legend).
51. Ch. Walter, St. Demetrius : The Myroblytos of Thessalonika, Eastern Churches
Review 5, 1973, p. 177, pi. 15 ; reprinted, Studies in Byzantine Iconography V,
(Variorum) London 1977.
52. S. Petricioli, Kameni grbovi grada Zadra, Radovi Instituta Jugoslavenske
Akademije u Zadru 9, 1962, p. 359-372.
53 M. Chatzidakis, Icons of Patmos, Athens 1977, n° 82, pi. 136 (detail), 137, p. 128-
129.
Sometimes military saints intervened in battle, not necessarily in order

to protect a city under their patronage. Again such interventions were not
their exclusive privilege. Accounts of such interventions are relatively
numerous. Behind them they have the tradition that the Dioscuri, after
fighting with the Romans at the Battle of Lake Regillus, announced their
victory as they watered their horses at the fountain of Juturna in Rome.54
The earliest similar legend in Christian tradition seems to be that
recounted by Theodoret of Cyrus (ca 393-ca 466) in his Historia
ecclesiastica : the apostles John and Philip, dressed in white and
mounted on white horses, intervened in battle in favour of the emperor
Theodosius.55
No such interventions in battle are recorded for Theodore in the pre-
Iconoclast period. On the other hand there are accounts of one —
possibly two — in the tenth century, although they are attributed to
Theodore Stratelates not Tiron. The interpretation of the texts provoked
controversy, notably between H. Grégoire and Fr. Dölger.56 The versions
of the incident, which are fairly numerous, recount two Byzantine
campaigns against the Scythians (Russians), the first in 941 and the
second in 971. Theodore appeared on the back of a white horse.57 Since
the campaign of John Tzimisces was more notorious, Grégoire supposed
that the account of the earlier campaign in 941 was calqued on that of the
later one. The texts are interesting less, perhaps, for what they tell about
the apparition, than for the information which they give about Euchaita
and Euchaneia ; they also witness to the growing importance of the
Stratelates in the tenth century. We shall return to these two matters later.
A more precise account of a later intervention is given by Theodore
Pediasimos, writing a century afterwards.58 In 1246, John III Vatatzes
conquered Melnik. A revolt headed by a Bulgarian, Dragota, led to the
expulsion of the Byzantines. In 1265, Theodore II Lascaris set out to
54. P. Grimal, Dictionnaire de la mythologie grecque et romaine, Paris 1951, p. 128.

55. Theodoret of Cyrus, Historia ecclesiastica, PG 82, 1252.
56. The interested scholar will find three articles by H. Grégoire : L'expédition d'Igor
(941) et la Chronique russe, Saint Théodore Spongarios ou Sporakios, Byz. 11, 1936, p.
605-607 ; La dernière campagne de Jean Tzimikès contre les Russes, Byz. 12 1937, p.
267-276 ; Saint Théodore le Stratilate et les Russes d'Igor, Byz. 13, 1938, p. 291-300. See
also Fr. Dölger, Bibliography, BZ 38, 1938, p. 232-234, giving a list of interventions by
other scholars. The principal point at issue seems to be the identity in the Life of Basil the
Younger (BHG 263-264f) of ό άγιώτατος στρατηλάτης Θεόδωρος ό Σφογγάριος for
Dölger a contemporary general but for Grégoire the saint. The outbreak of war in 1939
seems to have put a stop to the controversy.
57. So Leo the Deacon, Historia, Bonn, p. 153, lines 21-22 ; loannis Scylitzae
synopsis historiarum, edited J.Thurn, Berlin/New York 1973, p. 308-309 ; George
Cedrenus, Historia, Bonn II, p. 410-411 ; Zonaras, Epitomae historiarum , Bonn III, p.
534, lines 2-14.
58. M. Treu, edited, Pediasimi eiusque amicorum quae extant {BHG 1773), Potsdam
1899, p. 17-25, commentary, p. 50-61. The amendments proposed by P. N. Papageorgiu,
Zu Theodoros Pediasimos, BZ 10, 1901, p. 425-432, do not greatly modify Treu's text.
Fr. Dölger, Zwei byzantinsche Reiterheroen erobern die Festung Melnik, Sbornik Gavril
Kasarov, Izvestiya na B'lgarskiya Arheologiceski Institut 16, 1950, p. 275-279.
recapture Melnik. He was based at Serres, where there was a sanctuary

dedicated to the two Theodores. The emperor implored the help of the
two saints before marching on Melnik. En route, he was accompanied by
two handsome young men (Οι σαφώς ανδρε δύο, νέω και άγαθώ τάς
δψεις), whom he did not know. Astounded, the emperor asked members
of his entourage who they were. Then he recalled having asked the two
Theodores for their help. They went forward to rout the enemy. On his
return to Serres, the emperor lavished gifts on the saints' shrine.
A warrior saint might be required to invest an emperor with a sword.
This was not common in Byzantine iconography. In fact, as far as I am
aware, the only surviving example — in poor condition — is that of
Saint George investing Milutin in the church at Staro Nagoricino (1316-
1318).59 Saint George stands to the right of the composition, that is to
say, to the left of Milutin (Figure 5). He wears court not military dress
with a circlet on his head. He holds a sword in his left hand and makes a
gesture towards the emperor with his right. Milutin wears imperial dress.
Djuric interpreted it as commemorating Milutin' s recent victory over the
Turks.
From this picture it is possible to reconstruct the now lost picture of
the investiture by Theodore of Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180) in the
house of Leo Sikountinos at Thessaloniki.60 A description of it has
survived in Marc. gr. 524, f. 36 : «On the gate of a house whereon was
represented the emperor and above him the most-holy Mother of God
having Christ in her bosom (in the act of) crowning the emperor, an
angel preceding him, Saint Theodore Tiron handing him the sword and
Saint Nicolas following behind... Also present is the horseman Tiron,
Christ's martyr, who rides in front of you when you battle the enemy, who
instructs your hands in military contest ». Apparently Theodore was
represented twice, once handing a sword to the emperor and again on
horseback as if preceding him into battle.
It seems that in the later Byzantine epoch, with the Turks ever more
menacing, not only did the emperor's status as supreme military
commander become enhanced but also his dependence on the aid of the
military saints became more explicit. The triumphal rendering of Basil II
in the frontispiece of his Psalter, Marc, graec. 17, f. Ill, is archetypal.
However, the investiture with a spear is undertaken by an angel ; the six
warrior saints, represented in bust form to left and right of the emperor,
«fight with him as a friend,» according to the poem facing the miniature
on the opposite page, «throwing down enemies prostrate at his feet».61
59. V. Djurio, Tri dogadadja u srpskoj drzavi XIV. veka i njihov odjek u slikarstvu,
Zbornik za likovne umetnosti 4, 1968, p. 68-76 ; B. Todio, Staro Nagoricino, Belgrade
1993, p. 119.
60. Sp. P. Lampros, Ό Μαρκιανός κώδιξ 524, NE 8, 191 1, p. 43 ; English translation,
C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312-1453, Englewood Cliffs 1972, p. 226.
61. The miniature is reproduced everywhere, and the accompanying verses are
sometimes transcribed. See, for example, A. Cutler, The Aristocratic Psalters in
Byzantium, Paris 1984, n° 58, p. 115-116, fig. 412. Not all transcriptions are correct. That
Investiture, in fact, was an office more often performed by angels. The

meeting of Joshua with the commander of Jehovah's army (Joshua 5, 13-
15) was assimilated to an investiture ; the emperor might be acclaimed as
a New Joshua.62
One final service was required of warrior saints : the elimination of a
persecutor. From the time of Lactantius and Eusebius, it was held that
persecutors came to a bad end, usually by an agonizing disease.63 The
tradition was maintained in iconography, notably in the illustration of
some Metaphrastic volumes.64 The most common formula was to
represent the persecutor with a snake, normally encircling him :
Dochiariou 5, f. 117, Maxentius, f. 205, Diocletian ;65 Sinai 508, f. 66V,
Trajan holding a snake in his right hand, f. 190, a crowned figure
encircled by a snake, f. 234V, Maximian (?) holding a vessel from which
a snake is drinking;66 Marc, graec. 351 (714), f. 117, Diocletian
encircled by a snake.67 Other formulae were possible, as in Vatic,
gr. 1679, where the martyrs are represented actually revenging
themselves on their persecutors. Not all of these martyrs were soldiers ;
even those who were are not represented in military costume : f. 3,
Ananias (bishop) strangling his persecutor, f. 80v, Probus, Tarachus and
Andronicus (warriors) with the emperor prostrate at their feet, f. 137V,
Varus (not a warrior) clubbing the emperor, f. 160, Artemius (warrior)
spearing the emperor, f. 336, Epimachus (not a warrior) trampling the
emperor and pulling his beard.68
In the three literary texts which recount how a martyr intervened in
order to rid the world of a persecuting emperor, he is each time a warrior.
Two of these incidents are well represented in iconography. In the case
of Saint George, the Greek text has not survived, only its translation into
Coptic and Ethiopian.69 Moreover it is not told that Saint George
intervened directly. An official sent by Diocletian to Lydda broke a lamp
by I. Sevcenko, The Illuminators of the Menologium of Basil II, DOP 16, 1962, p. 272,
note 92, contains errors. In my article The Iconographical Sources for the Coronation of
Milutin and Simonida at Gracanica, L'art byzantin au début du XlVe siècle, Belgrade
1978, reprinted Prayer and Power in Byzantine and Papal Imagery (Variorum), Aldershot
1993, IV, I have published a photograph of the verses, pi. 1 lb, as well as transcribing and
translating them, p. 193-194.
62. V. DjuriC, Novi Isus Navin, Zograf 14, 1983, p. 5-14.
63. Lactantius, De la mort des persécuteurs, edited J. Moreau, Paris I 1954, p. 55-64 ;
Eusebius, Histoire ecclésiastique, edited G. Bardy, Paris 1952-1960, X 8-9, III, p. ΙΠ
ΠΟ, IV, p. 131-132.
64. N. Patterson-Sevcenko, Illustrated Manuscripts of the Metaphrastian
Menologion, Chicago/London 1990, p. 193.
65. Ibidem, p. 90.
66. Ibidem, p. 155-156.
67. Ibidem, p. 176.
68. Ibidem, p. 161-164 ; Ch. Walter, The Triumph of Saint Peter in the Church of
Saint Clement at Ohrid and The Iconography of The Triumph of The Martyrs, Zograf 5,
1974, p. 30-34.
69. Walter, art. cit. (note 2), p. 316-317.
hanging before Saint George's icon. A piece of glass from the lamp
lodged in his head, causing leprosy and his death. When Diocletian
himself went to Saint George's shrine in Lydda, the archangel Michael
intervened. Diocletian went blind and died shortly afterwards. Saint
George was, in fact, represented on horseback killing a man at least as
early as 915-921 at Aght'amar.70 Usually no legend identifies the man on
representations of this scene which were particularly numerous in
Georgia.71 However, on two icons, dating from the first half of the
eleventh century, the prostrate figiure is named «the godless king
Diocletian».72
Closer to the literary narrative, which, in fact, was much developed

and embellished, are the representations of Mercurius killing Julian the
Apostate.73 The text resembles that of the account of Theodore and
Sergius killing the emperor Valens.74 Julian was killed on June 26th, 363.
He was succeeded by Jovian, and, in 364, by Valens, who, being an
Arian and a persecutor of the Orthodox, was not considered to be any
better than Julian. Faustus of Byzantium told in his History of Armenia
of a sophist's vision of the assembled martyrs in heaven. Thecla joined
them ; she proposed an intervention in order to rid the world of the
persecuting emperor. Saints Sergius and Theodore departed to perform
this office. Later the sophist saw them return. They announced the death
of Valens. In making known the emperor's death, the sophist risked
execution for treason. However, he was given three days' grace, at the
end of which the fact was generally known. The story is, of course,
apocryphal, because Valens actually died in battle at Adrianople in 378.
Faustus's History survived only in Armenian. Peeters thought that the
original text was written in Greek and that it was early, earlier than the
account of Mercurius killing Julian, which was already circulating in the
mid-fifth century. Garsoïan, however, argues convincingly that it
depends rather on a Syriac text. According to Peeters, whom, in general,
Garsoïan follows, it was impossible for the intervention of Theodore and
70. Der Nersessian, op. cit. (note 45), p. 19, fig. 49.
71. G. N. Tschubinaschvili, Georgian Repoussé Work, VIII-XVIH Centuries, Tbilissi
1957, pi. 29-98, 103.
72. Idem, in Byzanz und der christliche Osten, edited W.F. Volbach & J. Lafontaine-
Dosogne, Berlin 1968, p. 332, pl. 360 (Museum, Kutaissi) ; Idem, op. cit. (note 71), pi. 93,
Weitzmann, op. cit. (note 44), fig. 28 (at Nakipari). The name Diocletian is sometimes
inscribed by the prostrate figure on late Georgian icons.
74. P. Peeters, Un miracle de SS. Serge et Théodore et la Vie de S. Basile dans Fauste
de Byzance, An. Boll. 39, 1921, p. 70-73. See also The Epic History Attributed to
P'awstos Buzand , translated and edited by Nina G. Garsoïan, Cambridge (Mass) 1989,
IV x, p. 130-132, and her commentary, p. 279-280. Surprisingly, this eminent scholar
wrote, p. 407, that Sargis (Sergius) was traditionally martyred under Diocletian, ca 303
(actually Maximian or Maximinus Daia), that Justinian (actually Anastasius I) renamed
Rosafa Serginpolis, and that he was always represented in military dress (by no means !).
Her notes about Theodore, p. 413, and Vales (Valens), p. 421, are more satisfactory.
Sergius to have been modelled on that of Mercurius.75 Thus their

intervention was archetypal. Yet, paradoxically, that of Mercurius was
far more popular and frequently represented, while no pictures of theirs
is known. In his Homily In supremum vale Gregory of Nazianzus refers,
without mentioning their names, to Julian and Valens.76 The eleventh-
century illustrator of Panteleimon 6 picked up the allusion (Figure 6). He
illustrated the passage, f. 242 v, with two miniatures. Julian is represented
being killed by Mercurius, while Valens is represented simply as an
Arian, crouched in the position habitual for Arius when condemned at
the first council of Nicaea.77
Early Representations of Theodore as a Warrior

We are fortunate in having Gregory of Nyssa's description of the
Passion cycle in Theodore's sanctuary : «There were representations of
the saint's brave deeds, his resistance, his torments, the ferocious faces
of the tyrants, the martyr's most blessed death and the representation of
Christ in human form, presiding the contest.»78 Although analogies may
easily be found for this cycle, it is unique for Theodore. An isolated
scene occurs of the martyrdom of Theodore Tiron by burning in the
Menologium of Basil II, p. 407, and of the Stratelates being scourged in
the Theodore Psalter, f. 39V (Figure 7).79 Although the Stratelates is
represented in military dress in his portrait in the Menologion, p. 383
(Figure 8),80 warrior saints were not normally so clad in scenes of their
martyrdom, so that it is unlikely that the Tiron would have been in the
lost cycle in his sanctuary.
The few known portraits, which, if not objectively dated, can be
considered to be early on stylistic grounds, are not more helpful, even if
they make it clear that Theodore's portrait type was established from the
beginning and consistently maintained. There are the two fragments of
cloth in the Fogg Art Museum, Boston, one with his head and traditional
features, the other with a legend (ό) ΑΓΙ(ος) ΘΕΟΔΟ(ρος), which has
been attributed to Egypt and the sixth century.81 The portrait in the
75. Ibidem, p. 76, 78, 87-88.

76. PG 36, 461.
77. G. Galavaris, The Illustrations of The Liturgical Homilies of Gregory
Nazianzenus, Princeton 1969, p. 211, fig. 177.
78. See above, note 7 ; English translation, Mango, op. cit. (note 60), p. 36-37.
79. // Menologio di Basilio II, edited C. Stornajolo & P. Franchi de' Cavalieri,
Vatican/Milan 1907 (Vatic, gr. 1613) ^February 17th, PG 117, 317 ; S. Der Nersessian,
L'illustration des Psautiers du Moyen Âge II, Londres Add. 19.352, Paris 1970, p. 28, fig.
68, illustrating Psalm 34, 15, «Scourges were brought against me». The Stratelates is said
to have been beheaded, but the flagellation which preceded his execution is described in
his Passion , L'éloge de saint Théodore le Stratilate par Euthyme Protasecretis (BHG
1753b), edited Fr. Halkin, An. Boll. 99, 1981, p. 20.
80. Menologio (op. cit., preceding note), p. 383, February 8th, PG ill, 317.
81. The Age of Spirituality, edited K. Weitzmann, New York 1979, n° 494, p. 549-550.
church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Rome, is also dated to the sixth
century.82
On the icon of the Virgin and Child flanked by two saints at Mount
Sinai, again attributed to the sixth century, the figure identified as
Theodore wears court dress.83 However, on two later ones, Β 13,
possibly of Egyptian provenance, and Β 14, where he is accompanied by
the deacon Leo, Theodore wears armour.84 The saint on certain seals
associated with Euchaïta, also identified as Theodore, again wears
armour.85 The example may also be adduced of a capital, found at Aqaba
about 1935 and now in the Archaeological Museum at Amman (Figure
9).86 It is comparatively small (27 χ 40 χ 37 centimetres), and is
accompanied by another similar capital on which Longinus is
represented. Both he and Theodore wear military costume, hold a spear
and shield and are haloed. With the same lot a stele was discovered with
an inscription that may be dated to 555. There is no necessary
connection between the capitals and the stele ; consequently there are no
objective criteria for dating them. They could be sixth or seventh century
work, but the crudity of their execution makes such a dating conjectural.
On the other hand on the votive mosaic in Saint Demetrius,
Thessaloniki, generally dated to the seventh century, Theodore wears
court dress.87
In fact, although it was never de rigueur, it did become more
customary for military saints to be represented in armour. However, at no
period can it be said that armour was an essential attribute of the military
saint.
The art of Cappadocia, being more plentiful, provides a convenient
watershed. As is wellknown, in Cappadocia scenes and cycles are rare ;
there are none for Theodore. However representations of him on
horseback, usually spearing a dragon, and on foot, in court or military
dress, are relatively abundant. There is no hope of providing a complete
and exact repertory, given the frequent new discoveries or identifications
(and, on occasions, inadequate descriptions) proposed by the specialists
in Cappadocian art. When Theodore is represented on horseback, he is
82. G. Matthiae, SS. Cosma e S. Teodoro, Rome 1948, pi. 3, 9 ; Mavrodinova, art. cit.
(note 6), p. 34, fig. 1.
83. Weitzmann, op. cit. (note 44), Β 3 ; Age of Spirituality, n° 478. Regrettably,
Weitzmann identifies the early portraits of Theodore incorrectly as the Stratelates ; he has
been followed by other scholars.
84. Weitzmann, op. cit., Β 13, Β 14.
86. First published by N. Glueck, Exploration in Eastern Palestine III, Annual of the
American School of Oriental Research , 18-19, 1937-1939, p. 1-3, figures 1-2. See also
M. Schwabe, A Greco-Christian Inscription from Aila, Harvard Theological Review 46,
195 p. 49. Exhibited in the Musée de la civilisation gallo-romaine at Lyon, May 1989,
Catalogue n° 51, p. 283.
87. R. Hoddinott, Early Byzantine Churches in Macedonia and Southern Serbia,
London 1963, p. 154-155, pi. 34.
invariably in military costume. Eleven examples are known to me of him

spearing a dragon, sometimes alone but often in the company of Saint
George. I cite here only those at Mavrucan n° 3 and Göreme n° 28
(Figures 10, II).88 Pictures of Theodore on horseback, not spearing a
dragon are uncommon : Derin Dere kilisesi ? (ninth century) ;89 Göreme
n° 18 ? (eleventh century) ;90 Church of the Stratelates, Mavrucan ?
(1256/7) 91. In court dress, he is represented at Açikel Aga kilisesi
(Figure 12),92 Tokali I (Göreme n° 7),93 Balli kilise (Soganh),94 Kiliçlar
kilise (Göreme n° 29),95 (all the first half of the tenth century). A single
later example of Theodore in court dress is known to me at Saint Barbara
(Soganh) (1006/1021).96 Finally I have noted ten portraits of Theodore
standing in military dress : Göreme n° 9,97 Tokali II,98 Tagar," Sümbüllü
kilise (Hasan Dagi)100 (all tenth century) ; Basilica of Constantine
(Yeniköy),101 Kusluk Kiliçlar (Göreme n° 33),102 Karanlik (Göreme
n° 23), 103 Göreme n° 22, 104 Karaba§ kilise (Soganh),105 Saint Catherine
(Göreme n° 21 )106 (all eleventh century).
In conclusion, before Iconoclasm Theodore was already being treated
primarily as a military saint, performing the office appropriate to his
state and represented in military costume. After Iconoclasm, although
there was no rigorous definition, it became increasingly habitual to
88. These are studied in detail in my article Saint Theodore and the Dragon, to appear
in a volume in honour of David Buckton. Much of my information about Saint Theodore
in Cappadocia has been generously provided by Madame Nicole Thierry. Mavrucan n° 3,
N. Thierry, Haut Moyen Âge en Cappadoce : l'église n° 3 de Mavrucan, Journal des
savants 1972, p. 258-263, fig. 21 ; Yilanli kilise, Göreme n° 28, de Jerphanion, op. cit.
(following note) I, p. 142 (with correction, p. 608), pi. 135 1.
89. (In this and the following notes, G. de Jerphanion, Les églises rupestres de
Cappadoce, Paris 1932-1942, is cited De Jerphanion; C. Jolivet-Lévy, Les églises
byzantines de Cappadoce. Le programme iconographique de l 'abside et ses abords, Paris
1991, is cited Jolivet-Lévy.) Jolivet-Lévy, p. 190. A question mark after the name of the
church indicates that the description available does not necessarily eliminate the presence
of a dragon.
90. De Jerphanion I, p. 486.
91. De Jerphanion II, p. 236.
92. Jolivet-Lévy, p. 328, plate 183, figure 2 ; N. Thierry, Un décor pré-iconoclaste de
Cappadoce: Açikel Aga kilisesi, Cahiers archéologiques 18, 1968, p. 35-36, fig. 3.
Theodore and George stand side by side, each holding a cross.
95. Jolivet-Lévy, p. 141.
96. De Jerphanion II, p. 322-323.
102. De Jerphanion I, p. 246. Now called Meryemma kilise, Jolivet-Lévy, p. 143.
represent him as a soldier. Portraits of him in court dress, common in the

tenth century, disappear in Cappadocia in the eleventh century. On the
other hand, while portraits of him in military dress are less common than
those of him in court dress in the tenth century, in the eleventh century it
is thus that he is regularly represented, as, for example at Hosios Loukas
(Figure 13).
Euchaïta & Euchaneia

These two places tend to be confused, both in the Byzantine sources,
liturgical, historical and hagiographical, and in the writings of modern
scholars. Yet basically, whatever may have been written to the contrary,
their respective situations are clear. For Euchaïta there is no great problem.
Although the Byzantine city has been completely destroyed, there is
general agreement with H. Grégoire's identification of its site as that of the
modern Avkat, a day's march from Amaseia.107 Gregory of Nyssa does not
actually name it in his Encomium of Theodore, but, from the fifth century,
references to it by name are common. C. Mango and I. Sevcenko were
fortunate enough to identify spolia with inscriptions concerning Euchaïta
in the neighbourhood ; one is about a wall built by the emperor
Anastasius I between 515 and 518, the other about the city's episcopal
status from the time of the same emperor.108 It was mentioned as a city in
Justinian's Novel 28, dated 535. 109 From the seventh century the see is
known to have been autocephalous. An eminent ecclesiastic, Peter the
Fuller, Monophysite patriarch of Antioch, was exiled there from 477 to
482.110 However, Euchaïta patently owed its prestige to «Christ's athlete
who is a citizen of heaven, Theodore the guardian of this town».111 Alypius
the Stylite
life.112 So did
visited
John Theodore's
Moschus, taking
shrineinatTheodore
some moment
at Euchaïta,
duringalong
his with
long
John at Ephesus, Thecla at Seleucia and Sergius at Saphas (sic , no doubt a
corruption of Rosafa).113 Theodosius , who visited Asia Minor some time
after the death of Anastasius in 518, was aware of the existence of
Theodore's sanctuary, although he may not have actually visited it,
because he situated it incorrectly in Galatia and not in Hellespont.114
107. H. Grégoire, Géographie byzantine, BZ 19, 1910, p. 59-61.

108. C. Mango & I. SevCenko, Three Inscriptions of the Reigns of Anastasius I and
Constantine V, BZ 65, 1972, p. 378-384.
109. Ibidem.
110. Theophanes, Chronographia, edited C. de Boor, Leipzig 1883-1885, I p. 125,
«προσέφυγεν εις τον αγιον Θεόδωρον Εύχαΐτων».
111. Mango & SevCenko, art. cit. (note 108), citing the inscription found at Yurgiiç
Pasa Camii.
112. Premetaphrastic Life, edited H. Delehaye, Les saints stylites, Brussels 1923, p.
1521113 (Alypius is reputed to have lived to be a centenarian, born ca 515, died under
Heraclius, 610- 641.)
113. Pratum spirituale § 180, PG 87.3, 3052b.
114. Récits des premiers pèlerins chrétiens en Proche-Orient (IVe-VIIe siècle), edited
P. Maraval, Paris 1996, p. 194.
184 CHRISTOPHERWALTER
Later direct references to Euchaita are rare until the time when John
Mauropous became bishop. It is evident that the cult of Theodore (Tiron)
was then still flourishing. However, John Mauropous, in poor health,
returned to Constantinople in 1047. 115 A successor as bishop of Euchaita
would have been appointed, although his name is not known. According
to his Life, George the Hagioretes and his pilgrim companions were
received there hospitably by the bishop in 1059.116 After that, apart from
the mention of a bishop Basil in a synodal list of 1082 and of a bishop
Constantine in 1173 (neither of them necessarily resident),117 no more is
heard of Euchaita.
H. Delehaye wrote : «On discute... la question de savoir s'il faut
distinguer Euchaita d'Euchaneia... Je persiste à croire que, dans les
textes concernant S. Théodore, les deux noms désignent la même localité
ou peut-être deux localités voisines».118 It is true that in many texts the
two places are either confused or considered to be identical. However,
there are a few which establish that they were separate places.
Geographically, their respective situations are presented lucidly in the
Life of Lazarus of Mount Galesius (BHG 979-980e), who died in
1053. 119 The hagiographer tells that «Εις Εύχάϊαν... τον αγιον...
Θεόδωρον προσκυνήσας, εκείθεν έξελθών κατηλθεν εις Εύχάϊταν
και προσκυνήσας και εύξάμενος εν τφ ναώ Θεοδώρου του
Τήρωνος». Oikonomides would identify Euchaneia with the modern
Turkish Corum about thirty-five kilometres west of Avkat (Euchaita).120
The geographical separation is confirmed by ecclesiastical documents.
Bishops of Euchaneia appear in synodal lists from 1042. 121 John of
Euchaneia sat with Basil of Euchaita at the trial of John Italos in 1082. 122
Moreover a seal of John's has survived.123 On one side there is the
portrait of a bearded saint in military dress with cuirass and lance. Only
part of the inscription — but enough to identify the saint — has
survived : Ο ΣΤΡΑΤ. On the other side, the inscription is better
preserved : Σης Εύχανείας Ίωάννην ποιμένα Θεόδωρε μέγιστε σον
δουλον σκέποις. Leo of Euchaneia sat with Constantine of Euchaita at a
115. Giovanni Mauropode, Otto canoni paracletici a N.S. Gesù Crïsto, edited
E. Follieri, Rome 1967, p. 15-16.
116. P. Peeters, Histoires monastiques géorgiennes II, An. Boll. 36/37, 1917-1919,
p. 121-122.
117. See below, note 124.
118. H. Delehaye, reviewing J.G.C. Anderson etc., Recueil des inscriptions grecques
et latines du Pont et de l'Arménie, An. Boll. 30, 191 1, p. 336.
1 19. AASS Nov. Ill 518.
120. Oikonomides, art. cit. (note 26), p. 327-332.
121. J. Darrouzès, Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, Paris
1981, p. 87.
n° 926,
122. p.V.401-402
Grumel,; J. Regestes,
Gouillard,second
Le procès
edition,
officiel
revised
de Jean
J. Darrouzès,
l'Italien, TMParis
9, 1985,
1989,
p. 141.
I 3,
123. Zacos, op. cit. (note 41) II, compiled and edited by J.M. Nesbitt, Berne 1984,
p. 271, n° 519 ; Plates II, Berne 1985, pi. 53, n° 51 ; Oikonomides, art. cit., (note 26), p.
328.
meeting of the Constantinopolitan synod on July 11th, 1173. 124 To these

witnesses in favour of Euchaita and Euchaneia being different cities,
may be added that of Psellos, also of the eleventh century, in his Letter
97, Τω κριτί) των Άρμενιακών. He wrote : αλλά μοι διαρίθμει τον
Δαζιμώνα, το Χιλιόκωμον, τα Ευχάϊτα, τήν Εύχανείαν125 It is
obvious that, if Euchaneia was the seat of a bishopric, it could not have
been a neighbouring locality of Euchaita. Further, it can be affirmed that
it would have been to Euchaneia, not Euchaita, as Delehaye and others
have maintained,126 that John Tzimisces attributed the name of
Theodoroupolis (even if the name was not, apparently, used). It was the
sanctuary of the Stratelates that he rebuilt, not that of the Tiron, because
the Stratelates had intervened in his favour against the Scythians.127
Theodore Tiron and Theodore Stratelates

My late colleague and friend Doula Mouriki once wrote that the pre-
Iconoclast Theodore, known particularly on early icons, was «χωρίς
αμφιβολίας» the Stratelates.128 Actually, it can be shown that he was
«without doubt» the Tiron. It is true that, when his portrait is
accompanied by a legend with his name, it is not normally specified that
he is the Tiron. This is the case not only for pre-Iconoclast
representations but also for those in Cappadocia. There only once, in the
Forty Martyrs, Suve§, a late church securely dated to 1216/7, is his name
qualified by the title Tiron (Ο ΤΗΡΟΝ).129 On the other hand, all the
early Lives and Passions are clearly concerned with the Tiron, because
they specify his low military rank.130 The earliest dateable text
concerning the Stratelates is the Laudatio of Nicetas of Paphlagonia,
who died in 88Ο.131
124. Regestes, ed. cit. (note 122), n° 1126.

125. Michaelis Pselli Scripta Minora , edited E. Kurtz, II, Epistulae , Milan 1941, p.
124.
126. H. Delehaye, Euchaita et la légende de saint Théodore, Anatolian Studies
Presented to W.M. Ramsay, Manchester 1923, p. 134, reprinted Mélanges d'hagiographie
grecque et latine, Brussels 1966, p. 280; R. Janin, Euchaïtes, DHGE 15, 1963, 1311-
1313 ; Idem, Euchania, ibidem, 1313-1314.
127. See above, notes 56, 57.
128. D. Mouriki, Ta Ψηφιδωτά της Νέας Μονής Χίου, Athens 1985, p. 156.
129. De Jerphanion, op. cit. (note 89) II, p. 162, 173 ; Jolivet-Lévy, op. cit. (note 89),
p. 207 (date of church).
130. It is well known that the Greek Turon (Tiron) was calqued on the Latin Tiro
(recruit or young soldier). According to Lampe, the word was used in this sense in
Patristic texts, as well as analogically for a candidate to the religious life. It seems to have
been restricted to Theodore as a title. Two other words were available : πεζός
(footsoldier) and νεόλεκτος (recruit). Apparently, the latter was never applied to
Theodore.
131. Nicetas of Paphlagonia, in his Laudatio (BHG 1753), Acta Sanctorum vol. cit.
(note 9), p. 83-89, specifically distinguishes the two Theodores. However, it should be
noted that a third Theodore appears in the sources, for whom no original texts in Greek
have survived, and for whom there is no liturgical commemoration. See A. Galuzzi,
It is, therefore, unlikely that a distinct Theodore Stratelates emerged in

Byzantine hagiography before the ninth century. Although much of what
is recounted about the Tiron should be taken with a pinch of salt, it
surely has a substratum of truth. There really was a Theodore Tiron. On
the other hand, Theodore Stratelates was equally surely a fictitious
character. As Delehaye wrote, «l'existence du second Théodore n'est
point établie historiquement». The accounts of his origins : born into a
family from Euchaita, which went to live in Heracleia, his martyrdom
under Licinius, of which his servant Abgar provided an eye-witness
account, his final beheading and the translation of his mortal remains to
Euchaneia (or Euchaita ?), all this is in the style of the professional and
experienced hagiographer. But what occasioned the creation of another
military saint called Theodore of superior rank ?
Delehaye observed that such a phenomenon was not isolated in
hagiography.132 The multiplication of homonyms which, in reality,
represent the same saint, normally had one of three origins : in the
diversity of the legends circulating about him, in the diversity of the
feasts in his honour, and in the celebrity of certain sanctuaries, in which
the saint was celebrated with different titles («sous des vocables
divers»). However, Delehaye was not prepared to pronounce which of
these three origins was to be considered that of the «dédoublement» of
Theodore. Other scholars have been more temerarious. For example,
Mavrodinova attributed the doubling to the existence of two different
portrait traditions, one Egyptian and the other Oriental.133 Oikonomides
suggested that in one sanctuary an icon of Theodore in military costume
was venerated, while in the other there was an icon of him in court
dress.134 Neither explanation seems to me to be satisfactory and
sufficient, but then that which I am about to propose may also provoke
sceptical reactions.
It seems that the word στρατηλάτης was equivocal. In other words, it
might be used as a personal title or simply as a general, honorific term
for a soldier, an officer with a certain standing. Some evidence may be
cited in favour of its use as a general, honorific term. In Cappadocia, the
church at Mavrucan (Gürelöz) is known as «of the Stratelates». It is late,
dated by a dedicatory inscription to 1256/7. Here the term stratelates
qualifies both George and (a) Theodore.135 Which Theodore ? A further
example : on the eleventh-century Paris Hetoimasia, military saints are
represented, all in court dress and holding a cross. They are Demetrius,
Teodoro orientale, Bibliotheca sanctorum 12, 249. Two Eastern texts concerning him,
BHO 1163 and BHO 1174, may be placed high in a list of examples of puerile
hagiographical folklore.
132. Delehaye, op. cit. (note 5), p. 15.
133. Mavrodinova, art. cit. (note 6), p. 50.
134. Oikonomides, art. cit. (note 26), p. 330-335. His assertion that the πεζός to whom
Mauropous refers could not have been Theodore Tiron also leaves me unconvinced.
135. De Jerphanion, op. cit. (note 89) II, p. 236.
Theodore, George and Procopius, and they are accompanied by a long

legend : «The στρατηλάται, having appeared from the four ends (of the
world) as witnesses to the divine pronouncements, are most ready to be
awarded a place (in heaven)».136 Since none of the other three was given
the title Stratelates, the word is used here as a general, honorific term. In
passing, we may note that a Sabbas Stratelates is also known, the double
of another Sabbas, the Goth.137 In his case, Stratelates is evidently a title.
Finally, there is the phrase in the Life of Basil the Younger, in which the
saint who intervened in battle in favour of John Tzimisces is called «ό
άγιώτατος στρατηλάτης Θεόδωρος ό Σφογγάριος».138 This was in
the tenth century.
Grégoire was right, to my mind, to see in the last word a corrupt
spelling (for which he cited parallels) of Σφωράκιος. The most ancient
church known in Constantinople dedicated to Theodore (Tiron) was
attributed to the patrician Sphorakios, consul in 452, and known as
Σφωρακίου, while nö church dedicated only to the Stratelates is
recorded. It would seem, then, that at some point confusion arose. Was
the general, honorific term stratelates being applied to Theodore or is the
Life of Basil attributing this title to the second, recently emerged
Theodore ?139 Their distinctive personalities would only become clear
once they began to be represented as «twins». For one, the Tiron, a
hagiographical tradition existed. For the other, pious authors were not
tardy in creating one. Whose mortal remains were actually venerated at
Euchaneia we cannot know. However, in the earliest Typica, Jerusalem
Holy Cross 40 and Patmos 266, both probably dating from the tenth
century, the feast of the Stratelates, whose αθλησις took place in
Εύχαΐτοις (sic), was celebrated on June 8th, with the office as written
for the first Saturday of Lent (the long-established feast of the Tiron).140
Later, in Paris, gr. 1990, dated 1063, and Oxford Bodl. Auct. Ε 5 10,
dated 1329, the translation of the relics of the Stratelates was celebrated
that day, while his main feast was transferred to February 8th.141
An intriguing difference may be noticed in the Sirmondianus (12th-
13th centuries) between the entries for the celebrations of the Tiron and
136. Most recently, Byzance. L'art byzantin dans les collections publiques françaises,
edited J. Durand, etc., Paris 1992, p. 269-270, n° 175. Durand observes that these
warrior saints «proclament (...) la légitimité des ambitions politiques et militaires de
l'Empire byzantin.» I. Kalavrezou-Maxeiner, Byzantine Icons in Steatite, Vienna 1985,
p. 95-96, n° 3 (commentary, p. 64) ; J. Durand, La donation Ganay. La steatite de
l'Hétimasie, La revue du Louvre et des Musées de France 1988, p. 190-194.
137. See above, note 22, and, more particularly, Ε. Folueri, Saba Goto e Saba
Stratelate, An. Boll. 80, 1962, p. 279 : «Mi sembra ehe senza scrupolo si possa iscrivere
Saba Stratelate nella categoria dei santi ehe non sono mai esistiti.» So this would be a case
of fictitious doubling analogous to that of the Theodores.
139. The same question may be posed with regard to the Theodore addressed by
Manuel Philes in his Carmen n° 6. See below, note 151.
140. J. Mateos, Le Typicon de la Grande Eglise I, Rome 1962, p. xvm-xix, 311.
141. Ibidem, p. 229.
those of the Stratelates. While there are several references for the Tiron
in the Synaxary to the churches in Constantinople where celebrations in
his honour were held, notably έν τοις - Σφωρακίου, no reference is
made to Euchaïta.142 On the other hand, for the Stratelates, no mention is
made of the church in which his feasts were celebrated, no doubt
because none was dedicated to him, apart, of course, from his sanctuary,
which the Sirmondianus, correctly, situated in Euchaneia. 143
It is understandable that, in such circumstances, two distinct saints
should emerge. Yet, although, perhaps, the Stratelates was more
esteemed in late Byzantium than the humble footsoldier, having two
feasts which were «half-days» («έν μέρει δίπρακτοι, έν μέρει
έμπρακτοι»), while the Tiron had only one,144 no evidence exists that he
had his own church in Constantinople, or anywhere else for that matter
except at Euchaneia. Where, then, was his liturgy celebrated? One can
only suppose that it took place in one of the numerous churches
dedicated to the Tiron, most likely in the Σφωρακίου.
Nevertheless churches did exist dedicated to both the Theodores. The
earliest, at Serres, known from the thirteenth century, has been
mentioned already with regard to the intervention of both saints in battle
on behalf of the emperor Theodore II Lascaris.145 A second, in
Constantinople itself, for a monastery named Κυπριανού, after the
husband of the woman who endowed it and who entered the community
as a nun, was built at the end of the fourteenth century.146 A third at
Pergamon, «ό θειος και πάνσεπτος ναός των άγιων και ένδοξων
μεγαλομαρτύρων Θεοδώρων τήρωνος και στρατηλάτου...» is dated
by an inscription on the lintel over the south door of the church to
1544/5. 147 This «twinning» of the two Theodores was much less
widespread in inscriptions and dedications than in the literary sources,
from which, however, a few examples should be adduced. In Digenes
142. Synaxarium constantinopolitanum, 469 (February 17th, with a reference to his

principal feast, the first Saturday of Lent, «έν τώ άγιωτάτω αύτοΰ μαρτυρείς έν τοίς
Σφωρακίου». 272 (December 1st, a commemoration in the same church), 197 (November
5th, the same), 774 (June 26th, έν τώ 'Ρησίου). For this ecclesiastical foundation and its
place in the history of the cult of the Theodores, see above, note 56 (controversy around
Sphoracius) ; note 17 (Chrysippus first refers to Sphoracius) ; note 35 (Janin's brief
account of the church in Byzantine sources).
143. Synaxarium constantinopolitanum, 451-453 (February 8th), 735-738 (June 8th,
where it is specified that Euchaneia was «πλησίον Εύχαΐτων»). Paris, gr. 1589 (12th
century) and 1582 (14th century) both give Eucha'ita, not Euchaneia. So does Vatic, gr.
1613 (see above, note 79).
144. Photii Nomocanon cum commentariis Theodori Balsamonis (12th century), PG
104, 1072-1073 ; Novel of Manuel I Comnenus (1166), PG 133, 760 : February 7th and
June 8th for the Stratelates, February 17th for the Tiron.
146. Janin, op. cit. (note 34), p. 291, citing Georgius (Pseudo-)Phrantzes, Chronicon
Majus,PG 156,751.
147. Halkin, art. cit. (note 30), V p. 77, citing H. Grégoire, Recueil des inscriptions
grecques chrétiennes d'Asie Mineure , Paris 1922, p. 17, n° 51.
Akrites, compiled — perhaps — in the eleventh century,148 the thrice-

blessed Basil overawed mighty and brave warriors, thanks to the grace of
God, of God's unconquerable mother (...) and of the prize-bearing great
martyrs, «των αθλοφόρων και μεγάλων μαρτύρων Θεοδώρων τε των
πανενδοξωτάτων, του στρατηλάτου και του τιρωνος.»149 Elsewhere,
there is a reference to two presents, jewelled pictures of the saints,
«εικόνα δύο χυμέντας άγιων Θεοδώρων»150 To these may be added
four poems composed by Manuel Philes (born ca 1275, died ca 1345). 151
In iconography, it was regularly the practice to represent the two
Theodores together, in the company of warrior — and other — saints. In
this final section of my article, I propose to examine this phenomenon of
«twinning», more particularly under its aesthetic aspect.
The Aesthetics of Warrior Saints

M.I. Rostovtzeff remarked long ago, with regard to Parthian art, that
Palmyrene gods, as well as heroized men, were «resplendent in their
boyish beauty (...). Despite their military dress, the military gods of
Palmyra are refined, elegant ephebes of the Oriental type (...). The
graceful figures of the boyish gods and of their curly-haired attendants,
the slim proportions of their bodies, the romantic eyes, their almost airy
appearance enable us to grasp at once, even without the help of the
haloes and radiate crowns which surround the heads of the gods, their
solar, ethereal and celestial nature.»152
It should be noted that Rostovtzeff is describing military gods, so that
the transition to military saints may be made plausibly through the
intermediary of such figures as those represented in the dome of the
rotunda of Saint George in Thessaloniki.153 The early portraits of Saint
Demetrius in his sanctuary in the same city,154 like early representations
148. E.M. & M.J Jeffreys, Digenes Akrites, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium I, 622-623.
149. Digenes Akrites, edited J. Mavrogordato, Oxford 1956, p. 3.
150. Ibidem, p. 129. Another reference to the two Theodores, p. 205. However, the
church built by Digenes was dedicated to only one Theodore «the saint and martyr», p.
223.
151. Manuelis Philae Carmina, edited E. Miller, I, Paris 1855, Poem 171 (where the
two Theodores are compared favorably to Hercules), Poem n° 287, p. 138, Poem n° 51,
p. 228, Poem n° 262, p. 457. See also Manuelis Philae Carmina Graeca, edited
G. Weinsdorf, Leipzig 1768. In the verses published by Weinsdorf, it seems that there is
some confusion between the two Theodores. However, in one, n° 6, p. 236, Manuel Philes
addresses the «three great martyrs, Theodore, Demetrius and George.» The three are
qualified as δρακοντοφόντης, γοργόπους (fleet of foot, an adjective, under the form of
γοργός, normally applied only to George), μυροβλήτης. However, Theodore is explicitly
qualified as ό γλυκύς στρατηλάτης.
152. M.I. Rostovtzeff, Dura and the Problem of Parthian Art, Yale Classical Studies
1935, p. 157, quoted after E. Fowden's study of Saint Sergius & Bacchus (printing).
153. A. Grabar, À propos des mosaïques de la coupole de Saint-Georges à Salonique,
Cahiers archéologiques 17, 1967, p. 59-81.
154. R. Cormack, The Church of Saint Demetrius : The Water-colours and Drawings
of W.S. George, The Byzantine Eye, (Variorum) London 1989, II.
of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, have the same elegant refinement.155

Early icons of Saint George have not survived, but we are fortunate in
having the description recounted by the grandmother of Theodore of
Sykeon of her vision of a «young man of utter beauty in shining
garments with curly hair as brilliant as gold, like the representations of
Saint George.»15** Her description is authentified by the unbroken later
portrait tradition of the saint.
The handsomeness of military saints was described in other literary
texts. Thus the beauty of Mercurius favorably impressed the emperor
Decius, «ό Δέκιος χολέσας πάνυ, και θαυμάσας την παρρησίαν
αύτου καΐ έπι τω κάλλει κοά μεγέθει αύτου εκπλαγείς.»157 Saints
Sergius and Bacchus were described as «stars joyfully lighting up the
earth».158 Moreover, the crowds who followed Sergius to his execution
wept bitterly «seeing the beauty which flowered on his face and the
grandeur and nobility of his youth».159
It is somewhat rare that Byzantine authors go more deeply into the
significance of the beauty of saints. However, one example may be
cited.160 It is to be found in the Life of Theodore of Sabbas, later bishop
of Edessa (BHG 1744), and written by his nephew Basil, also — later —
bishop of Emesa.161 The text is relatively early (probably written in the
ninth or tenth century and attested by a manuscript, Mosq. synod. 321,
dated 1023), but it has been judged to be «une mosaïque de légendes et
de plagiats».162 A principal source for it would have been the Life of
Michael of Sabbas.163 Michael of Sabbas certainly figures largely in the
text of this fictional Life, but the «hagiographer's» preoccupation is less
to adapt elements of Michael's character to that of Theodore than to
describe a youth who was both holy and handsome. He described the
elegance (αστείος) of a young man whose cheeks were just blooming
155. For example, almost certainly, the bust with the maniakion on the silver bowl
from Kyrenia (Cyprus), dated by its stamp to 641-651, most recently published in
Byzantium. Treasures of Byzantine Art from British Collections, edited D. Buckton,
London 1994, n° 135, p. 120-121. Fowden, op. cit. (note 152), cites a number of others.
156. Vie de Théodore de Sykéon, edited A.-J. Festugière, Brussels 1970, §32, I, p. 29,
II, p. 31-32. Compare §9, 1, p. 8-9, II, p. 11-12, ωραιότατος, εϋειδος νεανίσκος.
157. Delehaye, op. cit. (note 5), p. 238, lines 19-21 (BHG 1274). Compare Binon,
Documents grecs inédits, op. cit. (note 3), p. 33, lines 10-14 (BHG 1275).
158. Passio antiquior SS. Sergii et Bacchi Graece nunc primum édita, An. Boll. 14,
1895, translated by J. Boswell, The Marriage of Likeness, London 1994, cited here after
the French version, Les unions du même sexe dans l'Europe antique et médiévale, Paris
1996, Annexe V, p. 365.
159. Ibidem, p. 375.
160. Noted by A. Kazhdan & H. Maguire, but superficially, in their illuminating
article, Byzantine Hagiographical Texts as Sources of Art, DOP 45, 1991, p. 1-2.
161. Zitie ize vo svat'ih' otca nasego Theodora arhiepiskopa edesskago (BHG 1744),
edited I. Pomjalovskij, Saint Petersburg 1892.
162. J. Gouillard, Théodore le Sabaïte, DTC 15 (1946), 284-286; F.A. Angarano,
Teodoro di Edessa, Bibliotheca Sanctorum 12, 250.
163. P. Peeters, La Passion de S. Michel le Sabaïte, An. Boll. 48, 1930, p. 65-98,
acknowledging that the resemblance was first noted by S. Vailhé.
with down, and of the comeliness (ευπρέπεια) of his body. These

physical traits served to make evident the beauty (ώραιότης) of his soul.
No similar text exists for Theodore, who, in spite of being a recruit,
was invariably represented as a mature man with a beard, although, in
the account of his apparition with the Stratelates at Melnik, he was
described as «goodlooking». In this respect, as a military saint, Theodore
(and later the Stratelates) were perhaps exceptional They were never
portrayed as glamorous ephebes, whereas, in general, throughout the
Byzantine epoch, «saints who assumed a military rôle were portrayed,
both in literature and art, as vigorous, well-dressed and well-
equipped».164
Another, more delicate, question must be posed with regard to the
relationship between saints, who, either in art or in literary texts, appear
in pairs. The practice does not admit of an overall, general explanation.
Thus Saints Peter and Paul are represented together as the joint Founders
of the Church. Saints Cosmas and Damian, the Anargyres, were brothers
and both doctors.165 «Twinning» was, however, certainly commonest
among military saints. In some cases, for example Theodore with George
or Demetrius on the Sinai icon, or, later, George and Demetrius without
Theodore (none of whom were associated in their lifetime), the practice
would seem only to reflect the devotion to these particular saints of those
who commissioned the painting. In others, the camaraderie appropriate
to the military condition was probably taken into account.
Various couples of military saints, associated in their lives, may be
noted, for whom little, if any, iconographical documentation exists :
Nearchus and Polyeuctus of Melitene,166 Juventinus and Maximinus.167
For others, for whom representations are known, a close association
existed, according to the literary sources, during their lives. The most
notorious example is that of Sergius and Bacchus, whose affection for
each other colours the whole course of their Passions. One in their love
164. Kazhdan & Maguire, art. cit. (note 160), p. 3.

165. A. Grabar, Martyrium, II, Paris, 1946, p. 46, note 3, without going deeply into
the question, observed that these couples existed, «isolés ou groupés en 'familles' de
compagnons de martyre.» He considered that they «dérivent visiblement de formules
courantes du portrait antique.» He cites a limited number of examples of «twins» : George
and Demetrius, Cosmas and Damian, Constantine and Helena... H. Grégoire, Saints
jumeaux et dieux cavaliers, Paris 1905, is not helpful. Anyway, his Speusippus, Elasippus
and Melesippus are triplets (tergemini) not twins ! Boswell, op. cit. (note 158), p. 180,
notes the reticence of hagiographers to enter more deeply into the phenomenon of
«twinning». However, many scholars may consider that Boswell' s approach was
«slanted».
166. A borderline case, cited by Boswell, op. cit. (note 158), p. 200. Polyeuctus, a
Roman soldier and martyr under Decius & Valerian, is represented fairly often, starting
with Vatic, gr. 1613, p. 302, op. cit. (note 79), where he is beheaded, but not accompanied
by Nearchus.
167. Their association is much more evident, for example in John Chrysostom's
Encomium, PG 50, 571-576, but in iconography they are rarely represented, apart from
Vatic, gr. 1613, p. 99 (execution).
of Christ, «they were indissociable in the army of this world, but also
excellent soldiers of Christ.»168 Their unity was perfect. When Bacchus
was executed, Sergius wept in prison : «Never again shall we chant,
brother and companion in arms : «Ecce quant bonum et quant jucundum,
habitare fratres in unum..»169 And so on... However, although some
representations of Sergius and Bacchus together exist, for example in
Vatic, gr. 1679, f. 48V,170 where they stand together in court dress, jointly
holding a sword between them, their association is not de rigueur.
Sometimes, Sergius is represented without Bacchus.
As for the two Theodores, their association, once it began, was one of
the closest of those between military saints. Too much should not be
made of this, for, quite apart from the Stratelates having been, to all
accounts, a late invention, hagiographers were not accustomed to
associate them in their lifetime. On the other hand they did associate the
Tiron with his relatives Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus. «Δια την
προς
ώνόμαζον»171
αλλήλους άγάπην καΐ αύτοι αδελφούς αλλήλους
Mavrodinova has assembled a dossier of the two Theodores together,

sometimes praying as Orans, sometimes on horseback, placing an arm
over each other's shoulders. These gestures merely signify their military
camaraderie as Christians. 172 Two cases are, however, outstanding. One
is in the church of Zrze, Macedonia, dated 1368/1369 (Figure 14). 173
Here the two Theodores are represented holding hands. The other is a
late (19th century) icon, now in the Museum of Icons at Plovdiv
(Bulgaria) (Figure 15). 174 Here the two Theodores are represented
together on horseback, dressed in armour but carrying no weapons. The
Tiron is represented older, with grey hair and beard. The Stratelates has
brown hair and a beard. Their cheeks touch, and each has an arm around
the other's shoulders. The horses, their respective mounts, exchange a
friendly glancel
In fact, generally speaking, the affective element in art of the
Byzantine tradition is rarely evident to the modern Western eye, with a
few outstanding exceptions, such as the iconography of the Forty
Martyrs. A highly popular subject, the literature concerning it cannot be
cited here in detail, nor can the numerous representations.175 The Forty
Martyrs were, of course, warrior saints. Usually, but not invariably, they
168. Boswell, op. cit. (note 158), p. 366.

169. Ibidem, p. 372.
170. See above, note 68. Reproduced by Boswell, op. cit. (note 158), fig. 6.
172. Mavrodinova, art. cit. (note 6).
173. V. Djurio, Vizantijske freske u Jugoslaviji, Belgrade 1974, p. 85.
174. P. Toteva, Ikoni ot Plovdivski Kraj, Sofia 1975, n° 78.
175. See particularly, A. Chatzinikolaou, Heilige, Lexikon zur byzantinischen Kunst,
II (1971), 1059-1061 ; V.G. Kaster, Vierzig Märtyrer von Sebaste, Lexikon zur
christianischen Ikonographie 8, 550-553. More particularly, H. Maguire, Art and
Eloquence in Byzantium, Princeton 1981, p. 34-42, pi. 18.
were represented, naked apart from a loincloth, plunged in an icy lake.

Variations in the details of this iconographical type were possible. They
might support their sufferings stoically ; alternatively they might by their
emotional attitude reveal the agony which they were undergoing. This
iconographical category could be subdivided ; there exists a number of
representations of their martyrdom, in which the dying soldiers offer
each other mutual consolation. Among many possible examples, I cite an
icon in the Museum of Mestia, Georgia, which has recently been
published (Figure 16). 176 Here the martyrs are represented embracing
and warmly consoling each other, during their agony in the icy lake. The
affective significance of their gestures and embraces is surely clear.
Conclusion
The principal purpose of this study has been to provide the material
for establishing the identity of an archetypal Warrior Saint, whose figure
would play so important a role in Byzantine history and culture, by a
close examination of the dossier of Saint Theodore, who reached
eminence early and who, with a twin, has continued to be revered by the
heirs of Byzantine tradition.
The simplest definition of a warrior saint would be that he was a
soldier in the Roman/Byzantine army, who underwent martyrdom rather
than deny his Christian faith. In fact, most of those who are revered as
such were considered to have perished under one or other of the more
anti-Christian emperors, particularly under Diocletian. This was the fate
of Theodore. However, some warrior saints, notably Demetrius and
Procopius, were not at first revered as soldiers. Only later in their
hagiographical career were they «metamorphosed» into army officers.
Thus the right to be be included in the echelon of military saints could
depend less on the terrestrial career of a holy person than on his action
after being raised to the celestial sphere. It is evident that the Byzantines,
a bellicose people who readily sought inspiration in the power struggles
of the Israelites notably under king David, had no difficulty in accepting
that a martyr, before his Passion, had committed himself to a military
career without demurring. This was not the case in the West, where the
Life of Martin of Tours, a onetime soldier, had to be rewritten. There he
could hardly have been revered as a saint, if he had not publicly and
ceremonially renounced his military commitment.177
In Byzantine tradition, on the contrary, it was the military condition on
earth of a saint which made him particularly eligible, after his
establishment by martyrdom in the celestial sphere, to intervene in
specific ways in favour of clients in difficulty. He could be concerned
176. T. Velmans, Une icône au Musée de Mestia et le thème des Quarante Martyrs en
Géorgie, Zograf 14, 1983, p. 49, fig. 12.
177. T. D. Barnes, The Military Career of Martin of Tours, An. Boll. 114, 1996, p. 25-
32.
more particularly by the protection of his native town. This was the case
of Theodore with Euchaita. However, military saints also intervened in
other circumstances, notably in battle. Examples have been noted of yet
other types of intervention, such as killing dragons, although this was not
their unique privilege. As with most other saints, not necessarily
military, the origin of Theodore's cult was related to the sanctuary where
his relics were reputed to be preserved and where his icon, in military
dress, was first painted and venerated. The spread of his cult — again
this was not peculiar to military saints — was connected with the
fraction and dispersion of his relics. As their cult developed, Theodore
— and other military saints — became ever more associated with the
maintenance of imperial power, although investiture of emperors was a
privilege more often reserved to angels.
Theodore, like the others, was not necessarily represented as a warrior.
Often these saints wore court dress and held the cross of martyrdom in
their right hand. However, Theodore, more than most, was represented in
military dress, particularly from the eleventh century. For this,
Cappadocia provides an abundant documentation. The emergence of a
«twin», in his case the Stratelates, probably towards the end of the ninth
century, was, if not exclusively a phenomenon of military iconography,
at least more frequent with soldiers than with other saints. It can be
explained satisfactorily, it seems, as a reflection of the camaraderie
universal in military circles. A final negative point may be made : neither
of the Theodores, apparently, inspired the production of ευλογία.
It is clear that from the tenth century an echelon of military saints was
securely established in Byzantine hagiography. They have their place on
ivories and, more and more, in church decoration. An easy explanation
would be that Byzantine society, threatened so severely from without,
felt increasingly the need for their protection. Their introduction into
court ceremonial is witnessed by the passage in the De officia of the
Pseudo-Codinus, in which it is said that icons were carried not only of
the «archangel» but also of Demetrius, Procopius, George and the
Theodores (Θεοδώρων).178 They were the principal members, of course,
of what Delehaye called the quartier général of the military saints. In
late Byzantine art, they become increasingly numerous. Reference to all
the series, many well-documented, of their portraits would be both
lengthy and invidious. I will limit myself to two examples, both
admirably presented : that at Decani,179 where figure fifteen warrior
saints, and that in the parecclésion of the Kariye Cami, with fourteen
warrior saints (not all the same in each church).180 Here we are a long
hark from the fourth-century sanctuary at Euchaita, where Gregory of
Nyssa would have delivered his Encomium. Yet it was there that the first
178. Pseudo-Kodinos, Traité des offices, edited J. Verpeaux, Paris 1966, p. 196.
179. Markovkî, art. cit. (note 5).
180. P.A. Underwood, The Kariye Djami III, New York 1966, n° 142-178.
Christian Hercules, as P. Carolidis called him, began to make his impact

on Byzantine culture, he who was the personification of a great
Kulturkampf not only of the Christian faith against the heathen world but
also of human culture against evil in nature.181
Addendum. This article was already finished when an exhibition was

held at the Musée national du Moyen Âge, Thermes de Cluny, Paris from
February 9th to May 3rd, entitled Trésors de Macédoine. The objects exhi
bited included a number of the terra cotta plaques found near Vinica in the
course of excavations begun in 1985. One of them, described in the text,
p. 173, Saint Theodore killing a dragon (figure 3), was exhibited, catalogue
n° 2, on this occasion for the first time in Paris.
Christopher Walter
10 avenue de la République
94300 Vincennes
Source of illustrations (credit lines) :
1. Benaki Museum, Athens ; 2. J. Zakos ; 3. K. Balabanov, op. cit. (note 42) ; 4.

Personal ; 5. Todic, op. cit. (note 59) ; 6. Drawing by Pamela Armstrong ; 7. S.
Der Nersessian, op. cit. (note 79) ; 8. Stornajolo & De' Cavalieri, op. cit. (note
79) ; 9. Exhibition catalogue (note 86) ; 10. Thierry, art. cit. (note 88) ; 11. De
Jerphanion, op. cit. (note 89) ; 12. Thierry, art. cit. (note 92) ; 13. Personal ; 14.
Personal ; 15. Toteva, op. cit. (note 174) ; 16. Velmans, art. cit. (note 176).
181. P. Carolidis, Bemerkungen zu den alten kleinasiatischen Sprachen und Mythen,

Strasburg 1913, p. 148. One must limit oneself. Consequently I have remained, fairly
strictly, within the Byzantine tradition. Outside, the cult of Saint(s) Theodore, if attested
abundantly in iconography, has, nevertheless, yet to be thoroughly explored. Meanwhile,
the following studies can be consulted : A. Mirzoyan, Les représentations des saints
militaires dans le manuscrit n° 6305 du Matenadaran, Revue des études arméniennes, N.S.
20, 1986-1989, p. 441-445 ; G.E. Manova, Representations of Saintly Warriors in
Medieval Bulgaria and Their Relationship with Similar Saints in Georgia (in Bulgarian),
Atti del primo simposio iinternazionale sull'arte georgiana, Milan 1977, p. 183-198 ; T.
Velmans & A. Alpago Novello, Miroir de l'invisible. Peintures murales et architecture
de la Géorgie (VF-XVe siècle), Milan 1996, p. 113-118.
Γ » * , !
* \ · V '· t
ν
;■'*
. _ Aï,
Illustration non autorisée à la diffusion Illustration non autorisée à la diffusion
·«■· / : - ■ ·
1 ··*&*.·
■·■·;
Figure I. Intaglio, Solomon spearing demon. Benaki Museum.

Figure 2. Seals with military saint. Zacos collection.

Illustration non autorisée à la diffusion
Figure 3. Terra cotta from Vinica, Theodore and dragon. Museum,

Skopje.
Figure 4. Fresco, Martyrdom of Nestor. Staro Nagoricino.

Figure 4a. Detail of Figure 4. Demetrius protecting Thessaloniki.
i|Ä|K-.\v ·■%».-.·.■.■.■■'·■··■■■ μ '■"y/^^Yf^;^"^ j

'
-^±:%
Figure 5. Fresco, George investing Milutin. Staro Nagoricino.

oc
Figure 6. Miniatures, Mercurius kills Julian the Apostate ; Valens as an

Arian. Athos Panteleimon, cod. 6, f. 242v.
Figure 7. Miniature, Scourging of Theodore Stratelates. British Library,

Additional 19.342, f. 39v.
Figure 8. Miniature, Theodore Stratelates. Vatican graec. 1613,
Figure 9. Capitals from Aqaba, Theodore & Longinus. Museum, Amman.
Figure 10. Fresco, Theodore & George. Cappadocia, Mavrucan 3.

Figure 11. Fresco, Theodore and dragon. Cappadocia, Göreme 28.

Figure 12. Fresco, Theodore & George as martyrs. Cappadocia, Açikel

Aga kilisesi.
Figure 13. Mosaic, Theodore Tiron. Hosios Loukas.

Figure 14. Fresco, the Two Theodores. Zrze (Macedonia).

Figure 15. Icon from Momcilovci, the Two Theodores. Icon Museum,
Plovdiv.
Figure 16. Icon, Forty Martyrs (detail). Museum, Mestia (Georgia).

Christopher Walter. Theodore, Archetype of The Warrior Saint. Revue Des Études Byzantines, Tome 57, 1999. Pp. 163-210.

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Theodore, archetype of the warrior saint

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

1. A. Kazhdan, Hagiographical Notes, Byz. 53, 1983, p. 544.

Revue des Études Byzantines 57, 1999, p. 163-210.

However, synthetical studies, in which a scholar attempts seriously to

his status as a warrior ; Euchaïta and Euchaneia ; the emergence of a

The Literary Sources for Saint Theodore

7. Gregory of Nyssa, De sancto Theodoro, PG 46, 736-748 {BHG 1760, Clavis

If a Byzantinist is disappointed that so august an authority has

9. They are listed, of course, in the Bibliographica hagiographica graeca (with

consequently little difficulty in accepting that BHG 1764 was compiled

caractère populaire, qui mettent en lumière l'idée qu'on se faisait du

18. Halkin, art. cit. (note 11).

Theodore's nephew, was born like him in Choumiala (presumably a

The Origins and Spread of Theodore's Cult

21. Synaxarium Constantinopolitanum, 503.

24. See below note 115.

Comnena, was widely frequented in her time.34 However, the earliest

Theodore's Special Functions

34. R. Janin, La géographie ecclésiastique de l'empire byzantin, Eglises et

39. W. Hengstenberg, Der Drachenkampf des heiligen Theodor, Oriens Christianus 2,

icon of them together at Mount Sinai is well known.44 However, the

On the other hand, in the pre-Iconoclast period, the cult of Saint

Sometimes military saints intervened in battle, not necessarily in order

54. P. Grimal, Dictionnaire de la mythologie grecque et romaine, Paris 1951, p. 128.

recapture Melnik. He was based at Serres, where there was a sanctuary

Investiture, in fact, was an office more often performed by angels. The

Closer to the literary narrative, which, in fact, was much developed

Sergius to have been modelled on that of Mercurius.75 Thus their

Early Representations of Theodore as a Warrior

75. Ibidem, p. 76, 78, 87-88.

invariably in military costume. Eleven examples are known to me of him

represent him as a soldier. Portraits of him in court dress, common in the

Euchaïta & Euchaneia

107. H. Grégoire, Géographie byzantine, BZ 19, 1910, p. 59-61.

meeting of the Constantinopolitan synod on July 11th, 1173. 124 To these

Theodore Tiron and Theodore Stratelates

124. Regestes, ed. cit. (note 122), n° 1126.

It is, therefore, unlikely that a distinct Theodore Stratelates emerged in

Theodore, George and Procopius, and they are accompanied by a long

142. Synaxarium constantinopolitanum, 469 (February 17th, with a reference to his

Akrites, compiled — perhaps — in the eleventh century,148 the thrice-

The Aesthetics of Warrior Saints

of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, have the same elegant refinement.155

with down, and of the comeliness (ευπρέπεια) of his body. These

164. Kazhdan & Maguire, art. cit. (note 160), p. 3.

Mavrodinova has assembled a dossier of the two Theodores together,

168. Boswell, op. cit. (note 158), p. 366.

were represented, naked apart from a loincloth, plunged in an icy lake.

Christian Hercules, as P. Carolidis called him, began to make his impact

Addendum. This article was already finished when an exhibition was

Source of illustrations (credit lines) :

1. Benaki Museum, Athens ; 2. J. Zakos ; 3. K. Balabanov, op. cit. (note 42) ; 4.

181. P. Carolidis, Bemerkungen zu den alten kleinasiatischen Sprachen und Mythen,

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Figure I. Intaglio, Solomon spearing demon. Benaki Museum.

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Figure 2. Seals with military saint. Zacos collection.

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Figure 3. Terra cotta from Vinica, Theodore and dragon. Museum,

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