Amphianus and Aedesius were brothers, by tradition from Patara in Lycia, who were martyred during the persecution of the early fourth century and are commemorated together on April 2. Born to eminent but pagan parents, the two were sent to study secular learning at Berytus (Beirut) before they embraced Christianity. They afterward came to Caesarea, where they became disciples of the priest Saint Pamphilus, devoting themselves to prayer and the study of the sacred books under his instruction.
According to the synaxarion, when the imperial edict commanded all the inhabitants of the city to offer public sacrifice to the idols, the youthful Amphianus boldly confronted the governor as he was performing the sacrifice, seizing the hand with which the offering was being made and calling on him to abandon the worship of false gods. For this confession he was severely tortured and at last cast into the sea with a stone tied about his neck; the tradition relates that a storm carried his body back to shore, where Christians recovered and buried it.
His brother Aedesius, released for a time, made his way to Alexandria, where he likewise reproached the governor Hierocles for his cruelty toward Christians. He too was subjected to torture and drowned in the sea, sharing the manner of his brother's death. Both brothers are counted among the martyrs of the persecution recorded in the early fourth century, and they are honored together as witnesses who passed from pagan learning to the confession of Christ.
