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Theban Legion

The Theban legion figures in Christian mythology as an entire Roman legion— of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men"— who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together, in 286 A.D., according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's saints.

It should be noted at the outset that there are no official in******ions mentioning a "Theban" legion, and that such a naming does not follow the Roman conventions by which the historical legions were identified. See Roman legions.

According to the myth the garrison of the Legion was the city of Thebes in Egypt. There the Legion were quartered in the east until the emperor Maximian ordered them to march to Gaul, to assist him against the rebels of Burgundy. The Theban Legion was commanded in its march by Mauritius, Candidus, and Exupernis, all of whom are venerated as saints. At the Swiss town of Saint Maurice-en-Valais, then called Aguanum (see Aargau), so it was said, the bloody orders were given— since the Legion had refused to a man, to sacrifice to the Emperor— to "decimate" it by putting to death a tenth of its men. This act was repeated until none were left.

Bodies identified as the martyrs of Aguanum were discovered and identified by Theodore, Bishop of Octudurm, who was in office at 350 AD. The basilica he built in their honor attracted the pilgrim trade; its remains can still be seen, part of the abbey begun in the early 6th century on land donated by King Sigismund of Burgundy.

The tale of "the holy Martyrs who have made Aguanum illustrious with their blood" was promulgated by Eucherius, bishop of Lyon (died 494). It multiplied by thousandfold the standard formula of the martyrologies:

"We often hear, do we not, a particular locality or city is held in high honour because of one single martyr who died there, and quite rightly, because in each case the saint gave his precious soul to the most high God. How much more should this sacred place, Aguanum, be reverenced, where so many thousands of martyrs have been slain, with the sword, for the sake of Christ."

As with many hagiographies, Eucherius' pamphlet reinforced an existing pilgrimage trade. Many were coming from diverse provinces of the empire, according to Eucherius, devoutly to honor these saints, and (important for the abbey of Aguanum) to offer presents of gold, silver and other things. He mentions many miracles, such as casting out of devils and other kinds of healing "which the power of the Lord works there every day through the intercession of his saints."

The tale was further embroidered in retellings and figured in the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine and was included among the persecution of Christians detailed in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, an early Protestant stand-by.

The strength of the myth is based on the historical reputation for the fanatical eremites and other hermit saints of the Egyptian desert, the most famous of whom was Saint Anthony and the almost fanatical Christian following they inspired during the first two centuries. The first monks in the Christian tradition are known as the "Desert Fathers."

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