ANASTASIO of SALONA, saint, martyr. — He lived in the 4th century and seems to have originated in Aquileia, where he worked as a fuller. Having moved to Salona (Dalmatia), he encountered martyrdom there under Diocletian, probably in 304. A wealthy matron named Asclepia, having recovered his body, had it buried in her own villa, where the Christian cemetery of Marusinac later arose. After Salona was destroyed by the Avars, Pope John IV (640–642) had the saint’s relics transferred to Rome, which later gave rise to a duplication of the person of A. in hagiographical literature. A. of S. is depicted among the saints in the famous mosaic of the Lateran baptistery. He is commemorated on 26 Aug.
BIBL.: Martyr. Hieronymianum, pp. 467, 492; Martyr. Romanum, pp. 351, 384; H. Delchaye, S. Anastase Martyr de Salone, in Analecta Bollandiana, 16 (1897), pp. 488–500; I. Zeiler, s. V. in DGH, II, cols. 1440–42. Mario Scaduto