Martyrs Melasippus Karina, their son Antoninus, and forty children

Historical Context

The martyrdom is set at Ancyra (modern Ankara), a city in Asia Minor with a long history of Christian martyrdom. Earlier martyrs associated with Ancyra include Proklos and Hilarios under Trajan and Bishop Clement under Diocletian in 303.

Julian the Apostate reigned as Roman emperor from 361 to 363 and attempted to revive traditional Roman religious practices at the expense of Christianity, with laws that tended to target wealthy and educated Christians. By Christian accounts, when Julian passed through Ancyra in 362-363 on his way to his campaign against Persia, he engaged in a persecution of the city's Christians. His reign ended in 363 during that Persian campaign, the same year to which the martyrdom of this group is dated.

Sources and Reception

The account of Melasippus, Karina, Antoninus, and the forty children is preserved chiefly in the Orthodox synaxarion tradition, which commemorates the group on November 7. Modern Orthodox reference works carry little on them: a search of OrthodoxWiki returns no article for Melasippus, Karina, or Antoninus, reflecting the group's relative obscurity in contemporary reference sources.