ERACLIANO. - A citizen of Sirmium of the 4th century, a faithful Catholic and opponent of Arianism represented by its bishop Germinius.
There remains an *Altercatio Heracliani laici cum Germinio episcopo Sirmienii de fide syndoti Nicaenae et Arimienisse Arianorum*. It is a stenographic report by an eyewitness who attended the interrogation of this layman, along with two companions, concerning their faith on 7 January 366. Unable to prevail upon them by words, Germinius resorted to force and extracted from them a written confession of Arian faith. The account is written in fresh, rustic Latin and is of great interest for its theological and cultural details, as well as for its dependence on African writers. It was first published by C. P. Caspar in *Kirchheilistorische Anekdota*, I, Cristiania 1883, pp. 137-47.