One of the eleven youthful companions (“pupils”) of Speratus in the “Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs” (the earliest dated document from the Latin Church) brought before Vigellius Saturninus, the proconsul of the Roman province of Africa, who is recorded, in bearing witness (“martus”), to have said: “Today we are martyrs in heaven. Thanks be to God!” He was beheaded on 17 July 180 A.D., and is collectively commemorated among “the Scillitan martyrs” [cf. Musurillo 1972:89; PDS 303]. For what few other details can be indicated on the basis of the minimal sources, see the entry “Speratus.”

Clyde Curry Smith

Bibliography (see link to abbreviations table below):

PDS 303-304; ODCC 1230; NIDCC 889 (DFWright); OEEC 762 (VSaxer); GEEC 17 (DMScholer).

Supplementary Bibliography

Musurillo, Herbert. Acts of the Christian Martyrs: Introduction, Texts and Translations. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.

This article, received in 2004, was researched and written by Dr. Clyde Curry Smith, Professor Emeritus of Ancient History and Religion, University of Wisconsin, River Falls.

Click here forAbbreviations and Source References for Ancient African Christians.