Hormisdas was a martyr that didn’t get killed–just sunburned. Hormisdas was Persian nobility–part of the 1%. And all of the 1% of course knew one another–they had family ties, history, and economics uniting them.

When young Veranes became the Persian king, he decided to purge the realm of Christians and, as it so happened, Hormisdas was one. Veranes summoned Hormisdas before him, demanding that the latter renounce his faith. Butler reports that Hormisdas replied that if it is a horrific earthly crime to renounce one’s king, then “what must it be to renounce the God of the universe?”

Now, it’s one thing to order the ugly deaths of peasants, but another to treat a fellow 1%-er in the same way. So what Veranes did was to strip Hormisdas of all titles and honors and positions of power. He also decided that it would be great fun to watch Hormisdas have to go out into the fields herding camels in order to earn a living–wearing only a loincloth.

Persia (present-day Iran) has always been a place where the sun beats down harshly on the land and its people. This meant that the previously cosseted Hormisdas was soon sunburned. Even Veranes didn’t find much humor in seeing one of the 1% in this condition. So he summoned Hormisdas back into the palace and offered him a tunic to cover the welts and scaling on Hormisdas’ body. Veranes also gave Hormisdas another chance to set aside all this Christian nonsense. In response, Hormisdas gave Veranes back the shirt, turned on his heel, and went back to herding camels. End of story.

This highlights that martyrdom does not equate to death–it means holding fast to the truth-that-you-have-experienced, no matter the consequences. It also shows that there have always been different consequences for how the 1% are punished as compared to everyone else.

Still–Hormisdas was willing to relinquish his privilege to be true to his soul. Can we do the same?