Saints Secundian(us), Marcellian and Verian (also known as ''Secondianus, Marcellianus, and Verianus'') ( it, Secondino, Marcelliano, e Veriano) are venerated as

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

. They were

martyred 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 ...

in 250 AD near

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (; meaning "ancient town") is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located west-north-west of Rome. The harbour is formed by two pier ...

Santa Marinella Santa Marinella is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italy, Italian region Lazio, located about northwest of Rome. It includes the beach resort of Santa Severa (the ancient Pyrg ...

during the persecutions of

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procla ...

. Secundian was a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

or some sort of prominent official; Marcellian and Verian were scholars or students. Their

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is August 9.

Narrative

A fifteenth century account relates that under Emperor Decius, the three were zealous persecutors of Christians. However, upon reading

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

's ''

Eclogue 4 ''Eclogue'' 4, also known as the Fourth ''Eclogue'', is the name of a Latin poem by the Roman poet Virgil. Part of his first major work, the ''Eclogues'', the piece was written around 42 BC, during a time of temporary stability following the Trea ...

'', they, like

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...

in the ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

'', became Christians. According to one version, they were baptized by a priest named Timotheus (Timothy) and confirmed by

Pope Sixtus II Pope Sixtus II ( el, Πάπας Σίξτος Β΄), also written as Pope Xystus II, was bishop of Rome from 31 August 257 until his death on 6 August 258. He was martyred along with seven deacons, including Lawrence of Rome, during the persecutio ...

. By order of

, they were arrested by the prefect Valerian and decapitated at Civitavecchia and then their bodies were thrown into the sea. In a second account, the place of their martyrdom was ''appellatur Coloniacum, qui dicitur Colonia'' ("called Coloniacum, that is to say, Colonia"), which may be ''Colonia Iulia Castrumnovurn''. Their bodies were collected by a man named Deodatus and buried in that place. According to a third account, their cult was localized in the basilica of

San Pietro, Tuscania San Pietro is a Romanesque and Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church just outside Tuscania, in the province of Viterbo, in the region of Lazio, Italy. The façade has a large rose window, decked with mosaics, hedged at the corners by the symbols of ...

. The Acts of Felinus and Gratian were based on those of Secundian and his companions.

Sabine Baring-Gould Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 ...

writes that "the so-called ''Acts of SS. Gratian and Felinus'', used as lections in the ''Arona Passionale'', are extracted from the Acts of SS. Florentinus and Companions, martyrs at Perugia commemorated the same day. But these Acts are in their turn not genuine; they are, in fact, the Acts of SS. Secundianus and Comp. (August 9)."Sabine Baring-Gould, ''The Lives of the Saints: June''. (J. Hodges, 1874), 1.

Sources

The names of these saints appear in Jerome's martyrology under August 9. The ''Codex Epternacense'' indicates that the place of their death was

Tuscia Tuscia is a historical region of Italy that comprised the territories under Etruscan influence and the name adopted for Etruria after the Roman conquest. While it later came to coincide with today's province of Viterbo, it was originally much larger ...

; the ''Codex Wissemburgense'' lists the place of death as "Colonia" (not necessarily

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

); and the ''Codex Bernense'' finally specifies the place of death as ''in Colon(n)i Tusciae via miliario Aureliax XV.'' One scholar has identified this as ''Colonia Iulia Castrumnovurn'', a town in Tuscia, situated on the

Aurelian Way The ''Via Aurelia'' (Latin for "Aurelian Way") is a Roman road in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor.Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford C ...

, situated near the present-day Santa Marinella (which is near Civitavecchia).Pitetta, Alessio. "Santi Secondiano, Marcelliano e Veriano"
/ref>

References

External links

Santi Secondiano, Marcelliano e Veriano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secundian, Marcellian And Verian Saints trios 250 deaths 3rd-century Christian martyrs Year of birth unknown Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era