Saint Acacius of Amida

Acacius or Aqaq (died 425) was bishop of Amida, Mesopotamia (modern-day Turkey) from 400 to 425, during the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II. He has no extant writings, but his life is documented by Socrates Scholasticus, in the 21st chapter of the 7th book of his Church History. There, he is described as freeing thousands of slaves. The following is the full account in Socrates Scholastic, Church History, Book 7, Chapter 21, which records everything known from antiquity about Acacius. At that time, there were seven thousand Persian prisoners who were captured by the Romans and held in Amida. Filled with the compassion at the sight of these men perishing from hunger and misery, Acacius resolved to help them. He assembled his clergy and addressed them in this manner: Acacius sold all the precious golden and silver sacred vessels of his church and ransomed, clothed and fed the seven thousand. He even supported them for a while and furnished them with all that they needed to return to Persia. When the ransomed captives returned home to Persia, they told their ruler of the great deeds performed by Acacius. His actions so impressed the Sassanid Emperor Bahram V that he is said to have ceased for a time from persecuting the Christians. Persian Emperor Bahram V also desired to see Acacius face-to-face. Permission to do just that was given to Acacius by Emperor Theodosius II. Acacius' kindness and charity led to the termination of hostilities between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire, and Christianity was able to flourish for a while in the areas then controlled by the Sassanid Persians. Saint Acacius' feast day is celebrated on April 9 (Roman Martyrology).