3rd century (martyred under Emperor Aurelian, who reigned 270–275)
A brother and sister of Ptolemais in Phoenicia who were tortured and put to death for confessing Christ during the reign of the emperor Aurelian.
Paul and Juliana were a brother and sister of Ptolemais in the Phoenician region of the Holy Land who were tortured and put to death for confessing Christ during the reign of the emperor Aurelian (270–275).
By tradition the siblings were born to pious parents. Paul devoted himself to the study of Holy Scripture and, through its contemplation, attained mastery over himself, and he felt compelled to preach the Gospel to those still in idolatry.
Their commemoration is kept on March 4, the principal feast in the Orthodox Church of America's calendar, and also on August 17.
According to the synaxarion accounts, when the emperor arrived in their city, Paul made the Sign of the Cross over himself. Greek pagans reported this to the authorities, and Paul was arrested and interrogated. He openly and boldly confessed his faith in Christ.
Witnessing her brother's suffering, Juliana publicly denounced the emperor's injustice and cruelty. This led to her own arrest and torture alongside her brother.
The tradition relates that the siblings endured extensive torments. Paul was suspended and lacerated, and both were subjected to boiling pitch and beds of fiery iron. The accounts further relate that angels visited them in prison, loosened their bonds, and brought them bread, and that when Juliana was sent to a brothel an angel of the Lord kept watch over her and blinded any man who attempted to assault her.
By tradition, three soldiers were converted upon witnessing the martyrs' endurance. Kodratos and Akakios took pity on the saints, believed in Christ, and were beheaded; Stratonikos, moved with compassion for Juliana, likewise believed and was beheaded by the emperor.
Paul and Juliana were ultimately beheaded, and in this way the holy siblings completed their martyric contest.
Aurelian reigned from 270 to 275. He promoted Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) as the empire's foremost deity and pursued a policy of religious centralization. Christian historians recorded that he organized persecutions of Christians, though the full extent of these is historically contested, since many surviving details derive from the Historia Augusta, a source modern scholars regard as unreliable.
The Orthodox Church of America's life entry summarizes the martyrdom thus: 'The Holy Martyr Paul and his sister Juliana were executed under the emperor Aurelian (270–275) in the Phoenician city of Ptolemais.'