ACACIO (Acathius Acacius), saint, martyr. - A soldier, probably a victim of the Diocletian persecution. According to the unauthentic Acts of his martyrdom, A. was a centurion in Cappadocia, but because of his Christian faith he was taken to Constantinople, where, after a moving interrogation, he was beheaded. He enjoyed great veneration in Constantinople; he was also included among the 14 Holy Helpers (v. SANTITÀ), but it should be noted that he was often confused with saints of the same name. The feast of A. is set
by the Hieronymian and Roman Martyrologies on 8 May, the day of his death, and by the Synaxaria on the 7th of the same month.
BIBL.: Acta SS. Maii, II, Parigi 1866, pp. 290-99 and appendix, pp. XXXVIII-XLI; PG 115, 217-40; P. Bedjan, Acta Martyrum, VI, Parigi 1896, pp. 168-82; Martyr. Romanum, p. 179; Synax. Constantinop., coll. 661, 664, 825, 834; S. Salaville, Les églises de Saint Acae à Constantinople, in Échos d'Orient, 9 (1900), pp. 102-108; H. Delchaye, in Anal. Balland., 31 (1912), pp. 22, 228-32, 240; id., Les origines du culte des Martyrs, 2e ed., Bruxelles 1933 pp. 233-36, 240. Cesario van Hulst