APRONIANO, CEMETERY OF. - The Hieronymian Martyrology tells us (25 Dec.) that St Eugenia was buried on the Via Latina at Rome in the coemeterium Aproniani. From the Notitia ecclesiarum we learn that this was the third cemetery from Rome. A basilica was built over it, and Hadrian I (772-75) erected a richly endowed monastery for women there. The catacomb, visited several times in the past, was rediscovered in 1937 and has since been partially excavated. It has three levels but is not very extensive; it has yielded many inscriptions and some interesting cubicles, as well as a polychrome museum depicting the cycle of Jonah. Apronianus was probably a wealthy Christian who owned the property.
BIBL.: A. Ferrara, Una nuova catacomba su la via Latina, in La Civ. Catt., 1938, II, pp. 151-63; E. Josi, Cimitero cristiano sulla via Latina, in Rivista d'Archeologia Cristiana, 17 (1940), pp. 7-39. Antonio Ferrara