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The Three virgins of Tuburga were a group of young women who were executed for being Christians around 257 AD, in what was 
The three young women were martyred under
Roman-era
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
Tunisia.
Traditionally named Maxima, Donatilla, and Secunda, the trio are venerated as saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Catholic Church. They are remembered in both churches on 30 July.
The three young women were martyred under Emperor Valerian
Valerian (; la, Publius Licinius Valerianus; c. 199 – 260 or 264) was Roman emperor from 253 to spring 260 AD. He persecuted Christians and was later taken captive by the Persian emperor Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the fir ...
's persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
in the 3rd century
The 3rd century was the period from 201 ( CCI) to 300 (CCC) Anno Domini (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar..
In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander ...
. It is also possible they were executed under Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
given the dates Proconsul Anullinus was procurator.
They are among the few named victims of this widespread persecution, and the primary source on them in John Foxe
John Foxe (1516/1517 – 18 April 1587), an English historian and martyrologist, was the author of '' Actes and Monuments'' (otherwise ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''), telling of Christian martyrs throughout Western history, but particularly the su ...
who records that they ''"had gall and vinegar given them to drink, were then severely scourged, tormented on a gibbet, rubbed with lime, scorched on a gridiron
Gridiron may refer to:
Sports and games
* Gridiron, a term for the field marked with yard-lines on which American and Canadian codes of football are played
** Gridiron football, umbrella term used to refer to the several codes of football which ...
, worried by wild beasts, and at length beheaded".''
''Vitae''
Maxima, aged 14, and Donatilla were residents of Tuburga, a Roman colony in Africa Proconsularis, six miles southwest of Carthage. When an edict was issued for the townsfolk to sacrifice to the Roman gods the girls refused, after which they were tried and sentenced by Proconsul Anullinus. At some stage during their imprisonment, the pair met Secunda, aged 12. It is assumed that she was arrested separately, since she is not mentioned in the proconsular interview. Tradition holds that despite the older two girls trying to convince Secunda to recant – as she was much younger and the only child of an aged father – she refused. According to theirvitae
''Vitae'' is a Latin word, meaning or pertaining to life.
* Aqua vitae, archaic name for a concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol, distilled spirits
* Arbor vitae (disambiguation), "tree of life"
* ''De Brevitate Vitae'', work of Roman philo ...
, the girls were subsequently tortured, and exposed to wild animals which failed to attack them. The order was eventually given to behead them.
Legacy
The girls are consideredsaint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
s in both Eastern and Western Christianity, with a 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 ...
celebrated on 30 July. They are sometimes mistaken for Perpetua and Felicitas
Perpetua and Felicity ( la, Perpetua et Felicitas) were Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son s ...
, who were from another town, Thuburbo Majus
Thuburbo Majus (or Thuburbo Maius) is a large Roman site in northern Tunisia. It is located roughly 60 km southwest of Carthage on a major African thoroughfare. This thoroughfare connects Carthage to the Sahara. Other towns along the way in ...
.
The Emperor Valerian was later captured in battle by the Parthians Parthian may be:
Historical
* A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran
* Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD)
* Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language
* Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
and reputedly flayed, causing the belief among some in the Church in North Africa to claim it was divine retribution for his actions against the martyrs.Meijer, Fik (2004). Emperors don't die in bed. (New York: Routledge, 2004).
References
Further reading
* {{refend 257 deaths 3rd-century Christian martyrs 3rd-century people of Africa (Roman province) Executed Tunisian people Executed ancient Roman women Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era People executed by decapitation People executed for apostasy Tunisian Christians Tunisian women