ACACIUS (Acathius Acacius), saint, martyr. – A soldier, probably a victim of the Diocletian persecution. According to the Acts of his martyrdom, which are not authentic, 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 in the group of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (v. SANTITÀ), though it should be noted that he was often confused with other saints of the same name. The feast of A. is fixed 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, Paris 1866, pp. 290-99 and appendix pp. XXXVIII-XXII; PG 115, 217-40; P. Bedjan, Acta Martyrum, VI, Paris 1896, pp. 168-82; Martyr. Romanum, p. 179; Synax. Constantinum, cols. 661, 664, 825, 834; S. Salaville, Les églises de Saint Açac à Constantinople, in Échos d'Orient, 9 (1909), pp. 102-108; H. Delehaye, in Anal. Bolland., 31 (1912), pp. 22, 228-32, 240; id., Les origines du culte des Martyrs, 2nd ed., Brussels 1933, pp. 233-36, 240.