Story
In the days of the Emperor Decius, the governor of Alexandria was fierce in his persecution of the Christians; and as the historian Eusebius records, he began the persecution about a full year before the Emperor issued the decree to that effect (that is, in the year 249 A.D.).
The Christians of Alexandria were dragged to trial to be made to suffer many kinds of torment. One day, as one of the Christians was being tried and saw the instruments of torture, it seemed that he began to falter and was on the verge of collapsing and denying his Christ. But our Lord Jesus Christ did not leave him so; for suddenly five soldiers, among them a soldier named Ischyion, burst into the court of judgment. This drew the eyes of all to look at what lay behind them, when they went and stood beside the accused, confessing that they were disciples of Christ.
The judge and all the crowds were astonished at this sight, especially as these men bore cheerfulness upon their faces, as though they had come not to endure torments but to receive joy and crowns. At this the faltering man was strengthened, and he grasped, with a power that filled his soul and the consolations of God in his heart, what had taken place. After the judge had begun to rejoice at the man's collapse, all the scales were overturned, for the man declared his longing to endure every torment for the sake of his true faith.
Ischyion began to bear witness to the Master and to preach Him in the midst of the court. So the judge ordered a man named Arminius to torture this soldier, and he set about cutting off the members of his body, and even split open his belly with a rod. Then he was martyred, and his companions followed after him