Theodore of Alexandria was a Christian layman of Alexandria who was imprisoned, tortured, and put to death for confessing Christ during one of the early Christian persecutions. He is commemorated in the Eastern Orthodox calendar on September 12.
He is a genuinely obscure figure of the pre-Nicene martyr tier, with no fixed dates recorded. He is distinct from Theodore the Bishop (Patriarch) of Alexandria, commemorated December 3, with whom he has at times been confused.
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Confession and Martyrdom
According to the OCA synaxarion, Theodore was a simple Christian who was thrown into prison for confessing Christ. The fuller account preserved by the Mystagogy Resource Center relates that he proclaimed Christ fearlessly and was seized by pagans for his testimony.
The same account describes the torments he endured: a crown of thorns was placed on his head; he was struck and spat upon; he was paraded publicly through Alexandria in chains; and he was cast into the sea, from which the tradition holds he emerged unharmed by divine grace. He was finally beheaded by order of the governor. A liturgical verse commemorating him reads, in substance, that his head was struck off with a sword and that he shared in the gifts of God, playing on the meaning of his name ("gift of God").
Identity and Sources
Theodore the martyr has at times been erroneously identified with Patriarch Theodore I of Alexandria (also called Theodore Scribo), who served as Greek Patriarch of Alexandria between roughly 607 and 609, opposed the Heraclian revolt, and is commemorated on December 3. The two are entirely distinct: the martyr was a layman of a much earlier, pre-Nicene era. This confusion is documented in the Hagiologion and corrected by the Mystagogy account and other sources.
Sourcing for the martyr is sparse. The OCA's feast-day page records "No information available at this time," marking his synaxarion entry as a stub; OrthodoxWiki has no dedicated article; and the Wikipedia entry for September 12 lists him only by name with the identification note. The fullest available narrative is the brief account at the Mystagogy Resource Center, drawing on the Greek Great Synaxaristes.
