The good soldier's end: From suicide to martyrdom

The Christianization of the Roman army transformed the attitude to military suicide. Whereas previously soldiers of all ranks had regarded suicide in the face of defeat as the only honorable course of action, this changed during the fourth century. This is demonstrated by examining the changing behaviour of defeated candidates for the throne and by contrasting the attitude of Ammianus Marcellinus on this subject to that of his classical predecessors. Over time, the cult of military martyrs probably played a part in reinforcing this willingness to risk torture and humiliation. This process was completed by the emergence of a theocratic Islamic state whose efforts to force conversion did offer Byzantine captives a real opportunity of martyrdom.