These martyrs (3rd cent. CE) were Roman soldiers who belonged to the Legio XII Fulminata, which found itself settled in Malatya/Melitene (Mart. Hier. 9). As the garrison was sent to Sebaste (Lesser Armenia), during the time of the persecutions (Persecution of Christians) by Licinius, an imperial edict ordered that the entire army should perform sacrifices to the gods, an action that 40 soldiers from this legion refused to carry out. For this re…