BALBINA, Saint. — She is unknown to the *Martyrologium Hieronymianum*; she appears not as a martyr, but as a virgin and daughter of the tribune Quirinus in the legendary *Passio* of SS. Alexander, Eventius, and Theodulus (*Acta SS. Maii*, III, p. 375); the place of her burial is not indicated.
Due to a misunderstood topographical reference, Florus introduced her into his Martyrology on June 18; Ado, however, placed her on March 31, adding that she was buried in the cemetery of Praetextatus with her father Quirinus. The present Roman Martyrology includes her on the same date.
A suburban cemetery and an urban title bear her name.
The former was located on the Via Ardeatina; Pope Mark built a basilica there in which he himself was later buried (336), as attested by the *Depositio episcoporum* and the *Liber pontificalis* in the biography of Pope Mark. It was restored by Gregory III (731–41), Benedict III (855–58), and Nicholas I (858–67).
Two inscriptions relating to the purchase of tombs mention, one, "in basilica Balbinae sub teglata" (*E. Diehl, Inscr. Chr. lat. vet.*, no. 2143), and the other, "a new gallery of the underground cemetery in cymiteriu Balbinae in crypta noba" (*E. Diehl, ibid.*, no. 2149). De Rossi believed he could identify the cemetery of Balbina not far from that of Callistus (*Roma sotterranea*, I, Rome 1864, pp. 221, 265, 269); similarly, Wilpert in his topographical study of the Christian monuments of the Appian and Ardeatine Ways (*in Römische Quartalschrift*, 15 [1901], pp. 32–49). However, the identification remains doubtful, both because it is not confirmed by monumental discoveries and because the ancient Via Ardeatina left the Porta Ardeatina of the Aurelianic wall, destroyed in the 16th century, where Sangallo built his bastion (*C. Huelsen, in Bull. dell'Ist. archeol. germanico*, 9 [1894], p. 320), and its course, much further to the right of the present one, was discovered in 1933 during the foundations of the Hospice of San Michele, to the right of the cemetery of Domitilla.
The *titulus Sanctae Balbinae* first appears in the Roman Synod of 595; it is unknown whether it existed earlier or under another name. The title is situated on the small Aventine near the Baths of Caracalla and the house of Cilone. The building consists of a large rectangular hall composed of three different structures, with niches and a semicircular apse. It is uncertain whether the present church is a profane building from the first half of the 4th century AD, later adapted for worship. The present portico (late 16th century) is an enlargement of the previous one; a radical restoration of the entire building was completed in 1928.
The large arched windows, six on each side—three on the façade and four in the apse—were reopened. Votive paintings were found on the walls, datable between the 9th and 16th centuries, depicting the Madonna enthroned between the Apostles Peter and Paul, the Crucifixion of St. Peter, saints, and donors; traces of the *schola cantorum* were also found and have been reconstructed at the expense of Cardinal Verdier, then titular. A previous conservative restoration had been carried out in the second half of the 15th century by Cardinal Marco Barbo. Notable is the funerary monument of Stefano de Sardis (d. 1300), a work by the Roman marblers Giovanni di Cosma, transferred from the ancient Vatican Basilica in the 17th century.
It is among the churches officiated by the Vatican Chapter. — *See* Pl. XLV.
ENRICO JOSI