Saint Antiochus of Sulcis (died c. 127 AD) was an early Christian

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. The

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

and town of

Sant'Antioco Sant'Antioco (; sc, Santu Antiogu) is the name of both an island and a municipality (''comune'') in southwestern Sardinia, in the Province of South Sardinia, in Sulcis zone. With a population of 11,730, the municipality of Sant'Antioco it is the ...

are named after him.

History and legend

Antiochus is a figure associated with the Sardinian mines from which the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

extracted

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed ...

and

precious metals Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lu ...

; the Romans condemned prisoners of war and Christians to work these mines. Antiochus' legend states that he was condemned to work the mines on the island that now bears his name. The island, inhospitable and isolated during this period, was named ''Plumbaria'' at the time, after its source of

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

(''plumbum''). His legend also states that he was a physician during the reign of Hadrian. He had converted many people in

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

and Galatia to the Christian religion, and was therefore tortured and sent into exile by the authorities. Antiochus, however, converted his jailer Cyriacus in Sardinia, and had built a small underground oratory on Plumbaria, and was thus condemned to death there.

Veneration

Some sources state that he was martyred with Cyriacus at Sebaste rather than at Sardinia.Saint of the Day, July 15
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Notes

Bibliography

External links

Sant’Antioco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antiochus of Sulcis People from Sardinia 110 deaths 2nd-century Christian martyrs Year of birth unknown