Description

Demetrius was the son of an aristocratic family in Thessaloniki. He soon rose through the ranks of the Roman army, with the result that at the age of 22 he was promoted to the rank of major.

As an officer in the Roman army under the command of Tetrarch (and later emperor) Galerius Maximian, when Diocletian was emperor, he became a Christian and was imprisoned in Thessaloniki in 303 AD, because he ignored the decree of the emperor Diocletian “on the denial of Christianity”.

In prison was also a young Christian Nestor, who would face in a duel the great gladiator of the time Lyas. The young Christian before the duel visited Demetrius and asked for his help.

Saint Demetrius gave him his wish and the result was Nestor defeating Lyas and provoking the wrath of the emperor. It was then ordered that both Nestoras and Demetrius be killed.

In Byzantine icons but also in modern hagiography, Saint Demetrius is presented several times as a horseman with a red horse (in contrast to the white horse of Saint George) to step on the infidel Lyas.