The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Acepsimas
d. c. AD 376 (martyr) · Bishop · Martyr · Hnaita, Adiabene (Sasanian Persia)
The Nicene Age
Who Acepsimas was
An aged bishop of Adiabene arrested in the later phase of the persecution and killed with his own presbyter and deacons. Sozomen gives him a chapter of his own; the Syriac Acts make him an old man of eighty who had governed his church for decades before the Magi came for him. His name appears in Syriac as Akebeshma.
Named once in the sources within the horizon; no other ancient witness names him.
Also listed in martyrs and bishops beyond the great sees.
Common questions
When did Acepsimas die?
Acepsimas is dated d. c. AD 376 (martyr) in the archive, which places Acepsimas in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Acepsimas?
Acepsimas is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Sozomen. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Acepsimas from?
The archive associates Acepsimas with Hnaita, Adiabene (Sasanian Persia). The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Acepsimas’ contemporaries?
The archive links Acepsimas to 4 other figures, including James the Presbyter, Aithalas, Joseph the Priest and Shapur II. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History II.13 (the persecution under Shapur II)
c. AD 445Martyrdom of St. Acepsimas and of his Companions.Sozomen · Ecclesiastical History II.13 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Acepsimas in the sources
These figures are placed with Acepsimas by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Acepsimas naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Acepsimas, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.