According to the
Acts,
Tarachus (- 304), a
Roman who was a native of Claudiopolis in
Isauria and a former soldier, the plebeian
Probus of
Side in
Pamphylia, and the patrician
Andronicus, who belonged to a prominent family of
Ephesus, were tried by the governor Numerian Maximus and horribly tortured three times in various cities, including
Tarsus,
Mopsuestia, and
Anazarbus of
Cilicia. According to tradition, Tarachus was beaten with stones. Probus was thrashed with
whips, his feet were burned with red hot irons, his back and sides were pierced with heated
spits; finally he also was cut up with
knives. Andronicus was also cut to pieces with knives. They were then condemned to death by wild beasts, and when the animals would not touch them in the
amphitheatre they were put to death with the sword. Three men, named Marcian, Felix, and Verus, witnessed their martyrdom and added an
epilogue to the saints'
Acts. They retrieved the bodies of the three saints, buried them, and watched over them the rest of their lives, requesting that they be buried in the same vault as the martyrs at the end of theirs. There are two accounts of their martyrdom, the first account being held by
Thierry Ruinart to be entirely authentic. Harnack, however, expressed doubts as to the genuineness of the account, and
Hippolyte Delehaye puts the martyrdom in the class of legends of martyrs that he calls "historical romances". Their feast is celebrated in the
Roman Catholic Church on October 11, and in the
Greek Orthodox Church on October 12. ==Tarachus in the Maronite Church==