Maximilian of Tebessa

Life and Ministry

Maximilian was the son of a veteran of the Roman army named Fabius Victor, born at Theveste in Numidia and raised, as the son of a soldier was expected to be, for the military profession himself. The Acta Maximiliani, an authentic court-record from the imperial archive that has come down nearly verbatim, records his appearance at the recruitment levy of AD 295 before the proconsul Dion at the age of twenty-one. Measured at five feet ten inches and judged fit for service, he refused the military oath on the grounds that he was a Christian and could not bear arms.

Circumstances of Death

The court exchange is short and complete: Dion asks his name, asks why he refuses, points out that other Christians are in the army; Maximilian answers that he cannot serve, that he is a soldier of his God, and that he will not take the lead seal of the legion around his neck because he already wears the seal of Christ. His father is questioned and confirms that he does not oppose his son. Dion sentences him to death by the sword for refusing the oath. Maximilian gives his new clothes to the executioner, asks for the prayers of those present, and is beheaded on the same day. He is the earliest Christian on record whose specific charge was refusal to bear arms.

Legacy

The Acta Maximiliani is a foundational text in the Christian discussion of military service and conscientious objection. Maximilian's case is not that all Christians refused arms — others did not — but that his Christian conscience was so formed that he could not. His witness is that the Christian is a soldier already, oath-bound to a different commander, and that the seal of Christ on the soul makes the lead seal of the empire unbearable. His father's silence beside him is the witness of the man who, in giving up his only son to the sword, gives up his line. The cross took both of them at once.