Nearly twenty years after Antony Bryer raised St. Asteios of Dyrrachion from obscurity this article aspires to shed more light on the significance of this little-known saint. Despite the paucity of archaeological evidence, hagiographic texts help reconstruct and contextualize the steps in the institutionalization of a local martyr that appear to reflect the strategic importance of the city. The limited imagery of St. Asteios, including his unexplored portrait from the church of the Saviour at Rubik in modern Albania, are also used to substantiate his emblematic function as the local model of a Christian martyr-hero and, more importantly, his visual ‘identification’ with the city of Dyrrachion.