Repeated efforts by Emperor Theophilos and, after his death in 842, by Michael III and Empress-regent Theodora, to ransom them were rebuffed by the caliphs.
[2] Only a few of the 42 are known by name: The hagiography of the 42 was written soon after their execution, by the monk Euodios, who used their fate and the sack of Amorium as an indictment of and proof of divine retribution against the re-adoption of Iconoclasm by Emperor Theophilos.
[10] Euodios' narrative mostly contains theological discussions between the steadfast prisoners and various people—Byzantine defectors, Muslim officials, etc.—sent to convince them to convert during their seven-year imprisonment.
[10] Euodios' hagiography is the "last example of the genre of collective martyrdom", and was widely disseminated, with several variants of the legend of the 42 Martyrs appearing in later authors.
[10] Pictorial representations of the 42 are rare in Byzantine art, unlike their analogues, the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste; when they are depicted, they are represented simply as a group of officials in court dress.