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St. [[Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain|Nicodemus]] bases his account in the [[Synaxarion]] on a Greek life from a manuscript in the [[Great Lavra (Athos)|Great Lavra]] on [[Mount Athos]]. He places the martyrdom in A.D. 298 and attributes it to the Emperor Maximianus during his second period. The identification and chronology present some difficulties. Firstly, although there may have been limited harassment of Christians this early, the Great Persecution did not begin until A.D. 303. Secondly, the martyrdom is said to have occurred at [[Wikipedia:Nicomedia|Nicomedia]], in Asia Minor; in that case the emperor responsible was probably the Caesar of the East, [[Wikipedia:Galerius|Galerius]], whose full name was Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus, rather than the emperor more commonly known as [[Wikipedia:Maximian|Maximian]], the Augustus Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus who ruled in the western part of the Roman Empire during the same period. Thirdly, St. Nicodemus says that the martyrdom occurred in the second period of Maximian, which could conceivably mean after Galerius was promoted from Caesar (junior emperor) to Augustus (senior emperor) when [[Wikipedia:Diocletian|Diocletian]] retired in 305. It is, however, also possible that the date of 298 is correct: Galerius was appointed Caesar in 293, publicly disgraced by Diocletian after his failure in a campaign against the [[Wikipedia:Sassanids|Sassanids]] on the Eastern border of the Empire, and then redeemed himself with a victorious campaign against them in 297. The "second period" mentioned by St. Nicodemus would then be the time after his triumph over the Sassanids. His influence with Diocletian then increased, and it is possible that he had already began to persecute Christians in 298.