Martyrs

Many martyrdoms are documented in Ostia, from 211 AD, the year in which Septimius Severus died in York, until the reign of Julian the Apostate, the years 355-363 AD. Most belong to the later third century. An overview can be found in the presentation of the ancient texts concerning the harbours. Here we will focus on some topographical aspects. These are found in the Acta Sanctorum, the Acts of the Saints, a huge collection of stories compiled since the 17th century by the Bollandists, a Jesuit society in Flanders. Sometimes a clear historical core is found in the stories, but often standardized, fictitious events were added. The origin of the stories about the martyrs in Ostia and Portus is unknown. We could imagine that they started as an oral tradition, to be written down later, perhaps only after the Edict of Milan. They may have been read to pilgrims in their hostels, or used by guides taking the visitors to the tombs of the martyrs.

A couple of times we read that Christians were taken from Rome to Ostia for a criminal investigation. Why Ostia was chosen is not clear. Did the Emperors fear unrest in the Urbs? Asterius was brought there with his entire household and taken to jail, to await trial. The same fate befell Censurinus, an official working for the government. Aurea, the patron saint of modern Ostia Antica, fared better. She was sent to Ostia with her family and other Christians, again to await trial, but they were allowed to live in a farm owned by Aurea, outside the walls of Ostia. Perhaps she was given a special treatment because according to the Acta she was a daughter of an Imperial family (of the Gordiani?). Like a nurse she took care of the imprisoned Censurinus, providing food and tending to his chains. In Ostia she got to know other Christians: the presbyter Maximus, the deacon Archelaus, and bishop Cyriacus. Through their efforts many soldiers working in the prison were converted. In town Aurea and her companions performed a miracle by bringing the son of a shoemaker back to life.

Sarcophagus with a shoemaker (far left) and a spinner, from Ostia.
IG XIV, 929. Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano. Photo: Sarah Bond.

We have no idea where the prison was. A small room in the Barracks of the Fire Brigade, below a staircase and receiving light through a narrow window, was identified as a prison by Rodolfo Lanciani. There are no good grounds for the identification however. Surely the prison will have been larger, but with a limited capacity: prisons were only used for people awaiting trial or punishment, not as punishment. Conditions in the prisons are evident from the need for improvement felt by Constantine in 320 AD:

Interea vero exhibito non ferreas manicas et inhaerentes ossibus mitti oportet, sed prolixiores catenas, ut et cruciatio desit et permaneat fida custodia. Nec vero sedis intimae tenebras pati debebit inclusus, sed usurpata luce vegetari et, ubi nox geminaverit custodiam, vestibulis carcerum et salubribus locis recipi ac revertente iterum die ad primum solis ortum ilico ad publicum lumen educi, ne poenis carceris perimatur, quod innocentibus miserum, noxiis non satis severum esse cognoscitur. Illud etiam observabitur, ut neque his qui stratorum funguntur officio neque ministris eorum liceat crudelitatem suam accusatoribus vendere et innocentes intra carcerum saepta leto dare aut subtractos audientiae longa tabe consumere.

Meanwhile, the man who has been produced in court shall not be put in manacles made of iron that cleave to the bones, but in looser chains, so that there may be no torture and yet the custody may remain secure. When incarcerated he must not suffer the darkness of an inner prison, but he must be kept in good health by the enjoyment of light, and when night doubles the necessity for his guard, he shall be taken back into the vestibules of the prisons and into healthful places. When day returns, at early sunrise, he shall forthwith be led out into the common light of day that he may not perish from the torments of prison, a fate which is considered pitiable for the innocent but not severe enough for the guilty. This regulation also must be observed, that neither those who perform the duties of prison guards nor their assistants shall be permitted to sell their cruelty to the accusers or to deliver to death innocent persons within the confines of prison, or to allow those who have been wrongfully deprived of a hearing to be consumed by long, wasting disease.

Codex Theodosianus 9.3.pr.-1. 320 AD. Translation Clyde Pharr.

The criminal investigations are described as a mixture of interrogation, debate and torture. The future martyrs were asked to sacrifice to pagan deities. Bonosa's judge ordered the building of a special tribunal, a raised platform, in front of the forum of Portus. In Ostia we must think of investigations taking place in the Basilica, in which remains of the podium used by the judges have been preserved.

A few times the place of execution is mentioned. Cyriacus, Maximus, Archelaus and the converted soldiers were executed together. Cyriacus was beheaded in jail, the soldiers ad arcum ante theatrum, "near the arch in front of the theatre". This arch has been identified: it was dedicated to Caracalla. The place of the execution, known today as the area of the Christian oratory, would become the primary "lieu de mémoire" (site of memory) for the Christians of Ostia. Here the sarcophagus of Cyriacus was found. A little chapel was built in the early Middle Ages, and visited as late as 1162 AD.

The place of execution of the soldiers, "near the arch in front of the theatre". It took place in the more or less triangular area.
The honorary arch for Caracalla was at the spot where the photographer was standing. Photo: Wikimedia, Szilas.

The remains of the Christian chapel with modern commemorative inscriptions. To the right the sarcophagus of Cyriacus.
Photo: Daniel González Acuña.

Asterius and his companions were taken to an amphitheatre, where the entire population was asked to assemble at daybreak. Here they should sacrifice, which they refused. They were then condemned and taken to a place near the ampitheatre, called Ursarius, iuxta fanum aureum, quia ibi ferae nutriebantur, "the bear-pit, next to a golden shrine, because wild animals are fed there". Due to a divine intervention the wild animals refused to kill the martyrs. Eventually they were brought to a place outside the walls of Ostia and killed there. Elsewhere I have explained that the remains of the amphitheatre may have been found in the so-called Horrea V,I,2, and that the "golden shrine" may be a reference to the Field of the Magna Mater.

The remains of a curved wall in the so-called Horrea V,I,2, perhaps part of the amphitheatre in which Asterius was asked to sacrifice.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

The martyrs were beheaded, stoned, burned or buried alive. Bonosa was at first condemned to forced prostitution, later decapitated. Aurea was thrown in the sea with a large stone tied to her neck. The bodies were collected by fellow Christians and buried in Ostia's necropolis, the Pianabella to the south of the city. The Acta Sanctorum say that a church was built on the site of Asterius' tomb. This may for example have been the Basilica on the Pianabella. Aurea was buried in praedio eius, ubi habitaverat, "on her estate, where she had lived", together with Sabinianus, a farmer and friend. The location is well-known: here the present-day Church of Saint Aurea was built. Not far away is the Church of Herculanus. One of the soldiers beheaded near the theatre was called Herculanus, but according to the Acta Sanctorum and the Acta Martyrum he was buried in Portus. A church for Bonosa in Portus is documented through a few inscriptions.

The church of Saint Aurea in modern Ostia Antica. A first church on this spot seems to have been built in the fifth century.
Photo: Wikimedia, Dennis Jarvis.