- There are other people known as Saint Roman and Saint David.
Boris and Gleb, Christian names Roman and David, (Russian: Борис и Глеб; Ukrainian: Борис і Гліб, Borys and Hlib) were the first Russian saints after the Baptism of Rus by Vladimir the Saint. According to 11th century Lives of Boris and Gleb (assigned to Nestor the Chronicler and Jacob the Monk), they were children of Vladimir the Great, who liked them more than his other children. Both were murdered during the internecine wars of 1015-1019 and glorified by the Orthodox church in Rus in 1071. They were interred at the Vyshhorod Cathedral, which was reconsecrated in their name; many other Ukrainian and Russian churches were later named after them. Their feast day is observed on July 24 (August 6). The Primary Chronicle says that their mother was a Bulgarian woman, and their Turkic names seem to back up this information. Most modern scholars, however, argue that Boris and Gleb had different mothers, and were of different age. Boris, who had been already married and ruled the town of Rostov, was probably regarded as an heir apparent to the Kievan Rus throne. Gleb, who was still a minor, ruled the easternmost town of Murom. The Primary Chronicle blamed Svyatopolk the Accursed for plotting their assassination. Boris and his manservant were stabbed to death when sleeping in a tent. The prince was discovered still breathing when his body was being transported in a bag to Kiev, but the Varangians put him from his misery with a thrust of a lance.
Gleb was assassinated on his way to see the dying father by his own cook who cut his throat with a kitchen knife and concealed his body in a brushwood. The Life contains many picturesque details of Boris and Gleb's last hours, such as their sister's warning about the murderous plans of Svyatopolk. IThe Life's narrative is a masterpiece of hagiography that unites numerous literary traditions. Actual circumstances of Boris and Gleb's life and death cannot be extrapolated from their hagiography. Perhaps the crucial evidence comes from several unbiased foreign sources which mention that Boris succeeded his father in Kiev, and was not lurking in Rostov as the Russian Primary Chronicle seems to imply. Moreover, the Norse Eymund's saga tells a story of the Varangian warriors who were hired by Yaroslav I the Wise to kill his brother Burizleif. Some historians trusted the saga more than sources from Rus, claiming that it was Yaroslav (and not Svyatopolk) who was interested in removing his political rivals and was therefore guilty of his brothers' murder. Others consider "Burizleif" a misreading of Boleslaw, the polish ruler allied to Sviatopolk.
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Boris and Gleb in ancient literature
The story of the deaths and glorifications of Boris and Gleb is told in The Tale and Passion and Glorification of the Holy Martyrs Borys and Hlib, which is one of the oldest surviving texts of Rus. It places the blame for the deaths at the hands of Svyatopolk the Accursed[1].
