The Ten Holy Martyrs of Crete were a group of Cretan Christians put to death during the persecution under the emperor Decius (249–251). The synaxarion names them as Theodulus, Saturninus, Euporus, Gelasius, Eunician, Zoticus, Pompius, Agathopus, Basilides, and Evaristus. Drawn from several cities across Crete, they were arrested, tried together, and beheaded for refusing to renounce Christ. They are commemorated together on December 23.
According to the tradition, the governor of the island—who, the sources note, was also named Decius—pursued a fierce persecution of the Church, arresting those who professed faith in Christ. The ten were brought before him and, at their trial, steadfastly confessed Christ and refused to worship the idols and the imperial cult. For about a month they were subjected to severe tortures, which, the synaxarion relates, they endured without yielding.
Before their execution the martyrs are said to have prayed that their persecutors might be enlightened with the knowledge of the true faith. As the tortures had not broken their resolve, the sentence was carried out by beheading. By one tradition recorded in the sources, the executions took place at Alonion, the principal amphitheater of Gortyna. About a century later, Saint Paul of Constantinople is said to have visited Crete and translated their relics to Constantinople, where they were honored as a protection for the city.
