The Edict and the Refusal
By the account preserved in the synaxarion, Alexander served as a soldier in the regiment of the tribune Tiberian at Rome. When the emperor Maximian Hercules issued an edict requiring all citizens to go on an appointed day to the temple of Jupiter outside the city and offer sacrifice, Alexander refused, declaring that he would not sacrifice to devils.
His refusal was reported by Tiberian to the emperor, and soldiers were sent to arrest him. The synaxarion relates that as the soldiers came, an angel had already woken Alexander and warned him of the martyrdom before him; when he went out to meet them, his face is said to have shone so brightly that the soldiers fell to the ground.
Confession and the Road to Thrace
Brought before Maximian, Alexander boldly confessed his faith in Christ and refused to worship the idols, saying that he feared neither the emperor nor his threats. The emperor remanded him to the tribune Tiberian, who was being sent into Thrace to persecute Christians there, and the young man was led away fettered in chains.
The tradition recounts a long journey of confession and suffering that passed through Carthage, Byzantium, Philippopolis, and Burtodexion. His mother, Pimenia, who had been told of his martyrdom, sought out her son along the way and encouraged him through his tortures.
Martyrdom
The death sentence was finally imposed by Tiberian at Drizipera. The synaxarion relates that as the executioner prepared to strike, the saint prayed and asked God to remove the angels surrounding him, so that the sentence could be carried out; only then was the executioner able to cut off his head.
His body was recovered by his mother Pimenia and buried near the River Ergina. The Orthodox tradition records that healings began to take place at the saint's grave.
Veneration
Accounts of the dates and details of Alexander's martyrdom vary across traditions: some sources place his death around the year 289 near Karasura, by the River Ergina, where his mother is said to have buried him. The in-repo record commemorates him on May 13, following the OCA synaxarion, while other calendars observe him on different days.
A church dedicated to the martyr is attested in the village of Belica in North Macedonia, and archaeological remains in the region have been associated with the site of his grave.
