Basil (4)

Basil

saint and martyr, bishop of Amasea, in the diocese of Pontus and province of Helenopontus, is said to have been one of the victims of the persecution set on foot, about 322, by Licinius, the colleague of Constantine, in Armenia; and especially in Pontus and the city of Amasea. The author of the Acts of this saint appears to say that he attracted the fury of the emperor by receiving into his house, and protecting from his violence, a virgin named Glaphyra one of the women attached to the household of the empress Constantia; for which act he was carried to Nicomedia, killed, and thrown into the sea. His body was alleged to have been cast ashore at Sinope, carried thence to Amasea, and buried there near a church that he had built. He is commemorated April 26.