Hieromartyr Eutychius Bishop of Melitene

Sources and Attestation

The Orthodox tradition surrounding Eutychius is preserved almost entirely in his liturgical commemoration. The OCA synaxarion for May 28 identifies him as a co-worker with the holy apostles who suffered for Christ in Melitene in the first century, and offers no further biographical detail.

The appointed troparion characterizes him as a successor to the apostolic throne who taught the word of truth and defended the faith to the point of shedding his blood, language consistent with his rank as a hieromartyr and hierarch. As the richest source of characterization available, the troparion supplies his profile in the absence of a narrative vita.

He is also recorded on the Holy Trinity Orthodox calendar under the transliteration 'Eutykhias, Bishop of Meletineia,' confirming his episcopal rank and martyrdom but adding no new detail. He does not appear in OrthodoxWiki, the Prologue of Ohrid, or other surveyed reference works.

Historical Context

Melitene (modern Malatya in eastern Turkey) was re-established as a Roman military base in 72 AD as the camp of Legio XII Fulminata, and later became the capital of the province of Second Armenia in 392 AD. The city was associated with the veneration of martyrs, including the locally venerated saint Polyeuctus.

While the Orthodox tradition places Eutychius among the apostolic generation as an early bishop of this city, no early bishop of Melitene named Eutychius is independently documented in the standard historical literature on the city. His place among the Seventy Apostles, suggested by the troparion's reference to the apostolic throne, is not confirmed by the surviving lists of the Seventy.