Sergius and Bacchus

Sergius and Bacchus were during the beginning of the IV century two important soldiers of Emperor Maximian, who held them in high esteem for their bravery. Sergius was primicerius (chief-commander of the school of the Gentiles) and Bacchus the secundarius. They were martyred when it was discovered that they were Christians and the Church declared them saints.

Hagiography

A Passion of Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus has been preserved, the original of which is written in Greek and of which there are also several later Latin versions (some with very notable variants with respect to the original). The oldest surviving written text dates back to the 11th century. According to this Passion, Sergius and Bacchus, in the time of Emperor Maximian, were soldiers who ran the school of the Gentiles in the imperial palace. Their high position and their intimacy with the emperor aroused envy and they were accused of being Christians. Maximian did not believe this accusation until he realized that Sergius and Bacchus did not participate in the sacrifices at the temple of Jupiter. Maximian called them to his presence and reproached them for their betrayal of the gods:

You are the most wicked of men, for in exchange for the friendship that I have given you, convinced that you observed due respect to the gods, you have shamelessly offered me what is opposed to the law of obedience and subjection. But why would you also blaspheme the gods, through which the species enjoys so abundant peace? Do you not realize that the Christ you worship was the son of a carpenter, born of an adulterous mother, to whom the so-called Jews executed by crucifixion, because, leading them by mistake through magic and proclaiming God, he had become the cause of dissensions and multiple problems among them? The great race of our gods was born all of it of legal marriage, that of the most holy Zeus, who through his marriage and union with the blessed Hera gave them birth. I imagine you have also heard of the heroics and twelve main works of the divine Hercules god, born of Zeus.

The passion of St. Sergio and St. Baco.

Maximian ordered that they be replaced in their positions by their accusers, that they be chained and sent to the governor Antiochus, governor of the province of Augustus-Euphrates and former protégé of Sergius, so that Antiochus would be the one to punish them. After a painful march, Bacchus was beaten to death. Sergius was forced to run eighteen miles in shoes that had nails on the inside, piercing the saint's feet. He then he was beheaded.

Places of worship and iconography

The cult of these saints spread and several churches dedicated to them were consecrated, such as the church of Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus in Constantinople (now transformed into a mosque), and others in Acre, Nidzana, and Rome. His party is celebrated on October 8. In iconographic representations they always appear together, sometimes riding like soldiers, or in paintings with their military uniform and Jesus behind them.

Erastai

The close relationship between the two led John Boswell to create the controversial hypothesis of a romantic relationship between the saints. According to Boswell, some ancient texts of their martyrology, in Greek, would describe them as erastai, or lovers. Boswell consequently considers their relationship as an example of homosexual couples of early Christianity, reflecting (according to him) a tolerance toward homosexuality among early Christians. Artist Robert Lentz followed this view by depicting them as a homosexual couple in a painting of religious iconography. Boswell pointed to dozens of original manuscripts, which he believed would feature religious marriage rituals performed during throughout the Middle Ages by Catholic and Orthodox priests within churches to consecrate same-sex weddings. To reach his conclusions Boswell toured all the great libraries of Europe, including the Vatican, where he claimed to have found many of his manuscripts. As a result he believed he had obtained 80 original manuscripts of homosexual wedding ceremonies, in which Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus were invoked as protectors.

David Woods criticized some of Boswell's arguments as superficial. Other Byzantine historians and analysts, in accordance with the official position of the Orthodox Church, argue that the ancient Eastern tradition of adelphopoiesis, which was done as a form of "brotherhood" in the name of God and that has been associated with these two saints did not have a sexual nature.

Boswell's methodology and conclusions have been severely criticized by historians other than David Woods, Robing Darling Young, and Brent Shaw.

Adoption by homosexual Christians

Regardless of the merits of John Boswell's interpretation, in which the debate is still ongoing (sometimes with heated tones), it is a fact that a section of homosexuals in the United States, made up of Catholics and Greek Orthodox, has accepted the results. Today, therefore, it has achieved a new type of veneration that exalts the duo of Sergius and Bacchus for their uniqueness as a homosexual couple sanctified as a Christian martyr.

In this part of the gay world, Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus are unofficially considered patron saints of relationships between men, and often American and European gay marriages (whether symbolic, recognized, or through religious rituals).) are celebrated under his protection.