FELIX and ADAUCTUS, saints, martyrs. — The most ancient and reliable information about them comes from a Damasian poem from which it is gathered that a certain priest VERUS adorned their tombs. These are located in the cemetery of Commodilla, where they are also commemorated in the Hieronymian Martyrology on August 30.
From the Damasian inscription, whose text as transmitted by the manuscripts is not always reliable, it seems that F. and A. were brothers and were killed together. There exists a 7th-century *passio*, highly legendary, according to which F. was a priest; during the persecution of Diocletian, after being tortured he was led along the Via Ostiense to be beheaded. Along the way a Christian joined him in confessing the faith unto martyrdom, and since his name was unknown, he was called A. by the brethren "because he was added to the holy Felix to receive the crown of martyrdom." Over their tombs, situated in a deep fissure in the ground, a basilica was built. The author of the *Passio* probably based himself on the scant information from the Damasian poem, which he read and interpreted poorly. The presence then in Rome "in Pinci" of a small church dedicated to ST. FELIX of NOLA was the occasion for further legendary confusion between this saint and our F.