Saint Germanicus was a youth who was arrested and martyred for his faith in Smyrna during the reign of the Roman Emperor Antoninus. As Germanicus stood in the arena, facing a wild beast, the Roman proconsul pleaded with him that in view of his youth he should deny his faith to obtain a pardon. But the young man refused to apostatize, and willingly embraced martyrdom.^[1]

Germanicus was praised for his courage facing the wild beasts used to kill him,^[2] and was referenced in the Martyrdom of Polycarp.