ANTIOCO, SANTO, MARTIRE

ANTIOCHUS, Saint, Martyr. — In Sulci, on the island of S. Antioco (Sardinia), a Saint Antiochus was venerated from the 7th century onwards, as evidenced by an inscription from the 8th or 9th century discovered in 1615 in the catacomb beneath the church dedicated to the martyr (CIL, X, 7533). Of Eastern origin, Antiochus is said to have been sent by Emperor Hadrian to Sardinia, where he was martyred. However, the late *Passio*, from which this account derives, bears traces revealing its dependence on Greek documents relating to other Eastern martyrs of the same name. Hence the still unresolved question of whether the Antiochus of Sulci is a local martyr, as Delehaye supposes, or should be identified, as Lanzoni argues, with the Eastern martyr venerated in Galatia in the 6th century, whose relics would in that case have been transferred to Sardinia. His feast is celebrated on December 13.