Martyrdom of Simeon
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The Martyrdom of Simeon is an account concerning Simeon or Shemon Bar Sabbae, a leader in the Church of the East who, under the Sasanian Empire, was killed for refusing to collect taxes from Christians in the empire. It is one of four Syriac martyr acts, and also known by its longer name, The Martyrdom of Mar Simeon, the Archbishop of the Church of the East.[1] It is not to be confused with the History of Simeon, another narrative about the same individual.[2] There are conflicting chronological notes in the relevant ancient sources, but the death of Simeon must be placed in the neighborhood of 344 CE.[3][a]
According to the Martyrdom, Simeon refused to collect taxes from Christians for Shapur II, the head of the Sasanian Empire, to be used in fighting against the Romans, and so was killed.[2] The tax would have doubled the level of taxation on the (according to Simeon) poor Christian community of the Sasanian Empire, who were sympathetic to the recently Christianized Roman Empire.[5]
An account of the martyrdom of Simeon was later included in Foxe's influential Book of Martyrs.[6]