Maximilian (martyr)

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Saint Maximilian of Tebessa
Born	274
Died	March 12, 295, Thavaste (Tébessa)
Feast	March 12
Patronage	concientious objectors
Controversy	historical existence is disputed
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Saint Maximilian of Tebessa is a Christian saint whose feast day is observed on 12 March. He is a martyr of the Catholic Church from the third century CE, born in A.D. 274. Because his father Fabius Victor was a soldier in the Roman army, Maximilianus was obliged to join at the age of 21. Brought before the proconsul of Numidia Cassius Dion, he refused, stating that as a Christian he could not serve in the military. This led to his martyrdom by beheading on 12 March, A.D. 295, at the City of Thavaste (now: Tébessa, Algeria), North Africa. He is noted as the first martyred conscientious objector. The story exemplifies that most early Christians were pacifists until the religion was coopted by the Roman state little more than a decade later with the Edict of Milan by the Emperor Constantine I in A.D. 313.