The more ‘convincing’ icon, is in fact a very very modern one, used in conjunction with a very modern translation of a text…
“The various words used for “bond” and “union” in the account are striking. For example, is not only the strongest of the possible words for “union,” or “uniting,” but combines a fascinating range of associations, all certainly familiar to the author of the Greek life of Serge and Bacchus. The most direct of these would be New Testament phrases, many quoted or echoed in the text, especially Col. 3:14 (“love, which is the bond of perfection” ) and Eph. 4:3 (“to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace”). Less clear but even more startling is the use of the same word in [LXX] I Kings 14:24, where it has been taken since the time of Jerome to refer to homosexuality (“And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations . . .”). This is likely a misprision of the Hebrew, but could hardly have been unknown to or missed by the author of the life, if it seemed obvious to Jerome. Its homosexual implication was, moreover, strengthened under Christian influence by the New Testament phrase “bonds of iniquity,” which employed the same Greek word for “bond.” Following classical usage, late antique and patristic writers used to describe particularly intimate unions of many sorts, ranging from the union of the Trinity to the marriage of husband and wife.”
John Boswell writing in 1904
(text given at site above)
However, an older version (also given at same site)
"The Passion of St. Sergius and Bacchus (BHL 7599)
“…They were one in the love of Christ, and were never separated from each other in their earthly military service, joined not by their natural temperament but by the chain of faith, always singing and saying, “How good and pleasant it is for brothers to live together” [Psalm 133:1]. They were, therefore, intelligent and happy soldiers of God, perfectly resolved by the divinely inspired scriptures upon the destruction of the devil’s error, and they exercised themselves fully in battle for the destruction of barbarians. …”
6. He said to them as they entered, “I see it this way, that trusting in my great clemency and humanity, with which protection the gods have provided you, you are willing on top of this to scorn the imperial edict as law-breakers and enemies of the gods. But I will not uphold the complaints which have made about you unless they are proven. Approaching, so, the altar of great Jove, offer sacrifice and taste the mystical offerings, just as the rest do.” However Sergius and Bacchus, the martyrs and most brave soldiers of Christ, said in response, “We must discharge to you, O emperor, the earthly military service of our bodies; but we have a true king, Jesus Christ eternal in heaven, the Son of God, to whom we devote our souls, he who is our hope and saving refuge. We offer to him everyday a holy and living sacrifice, and reasoned worship; for we do not sacrifice to, or adore, stones and wood. Your gods have ears but they do not hear the prayer of men. They have noses likewise, but they do not smell the sacrifice which is offered to them. They have mouths but they do not talk, hands but they do not touch, and feet but they do not walk. May they and all who trust in them become like those things which they make” [Psalm 134:18].
7. Thus the emperor was infuriated, his whole face changed, and he ordered that their military belts be immediately removed, that they be stripped of their cloaks and any other military garments, and, at the same time, that their golden collars be removed from about their necks. He dressed them in women’s clothing, and he ordered that they be dragged in this way, with the heaviest chains about their necks, right through the middle of the city as far as the palace. When the holy men were being dragged through the middle of the forum they chanted together, saying, “Although we walk in the shadow of death, we shall fear no evils, since you are with us,” [Psalm 24:5] and the words of the Apostle, “Denying to this extent all wickedness and earthly desire, [Titus 2:12] and having removed the clothing of the old-man, [Colossians 3:9] let us rejoice naked in our faith in you, O Lord, because you have clothed us in the garment of salvation, and you have wrapped us in the tunic of joy. You have adorned us in women’s clothes, like a spouse, unite us to you through our con- fession [Isaiah 61:10]. You, O Lord, have put your trust in us, saying, “You will be led before kings and governors on my account, and when they hand you over [to trial] do not worry how you will sound or what you will say. You will be given what to say at that hour. For they will not be your words which you are speaking, but words from the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” [Matthew 10: 19-20].”
