Bishop Maruthas of Martyropolis/Silvan (d. AD 430)

Maruthas served as the bishop of Maypherkat (modern Silvan, northeast of Diyarbakir) in Mesopotamia for 11 years, from about 399 through 410. Because he brought so many Christian martyrs’ remains into the city from Persia, the city was named Martyropolis—meaning “the City of Martyrs.”

Maruthas participated in Constantinople’s Ecumenical Church Council of Constantinople in 381 and assisted in the writing of the final version of the Nicene Creed. His writings include Acts of the Persian Martyrs and a History of the Council of Nicaea. Maruthas died around 420.