Antiochus, Saint, Martyr

ANTIOCO, saint, martyr. - At Sulci, on the island of S. Antioco (Sardinia), the relics of a St. A. had been venerated since the 6th century, as is attested by an inscription of the 8th or 9th century, discovered in 1615 in the catacomb beneath the church dedicated to the martyr (CIL, X, 7533). Of Eastern origin, A. is said to have been sent to Sardinia by the emperor Hadrian and there martyred. But the late Passio, to which we owe this information, bears traces revealing its dependence on Greek documents concerning another Eastern martyr of the same name. Hence the still unresolved question whether the A. of Sulci was a local martyr, as Delehaye supposes, or whether, according to Lanzoni, he is to be identified with the Eastern martyr venerated in Galatia in the 6th century, whose relics in that case would have been transferred to Sardinia. His feast falls on 13 Dec.