FRUCTUOSUS, Saint, Martyr. — Bishop of Tarragona, arrested on 16 January 259 together with the deacons Augurius and Eulogius, under the enforcement of the second edict of the emperor Valerian, aimed at the extermination of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
They were held in prison for six days, then on the 21st they were brought before the prefect, and, refusing to sacrifice, were burned in the amphitheatre. The Acts of the martyrdom, which are worthy of credence, read during the anniversary at Mass (St. Augustine, Serm. 273), later put into verse by Prudentius (Peristephanon, VI), were compiled by a contemporary using the proconsular record. Feast day: 21 January.
BIBL.: Acta SS. Ianuari, II, Paris 1863, cols. 339-41; Franchi de' Cavalieri, Gli Atti di s. F. di Tarragona (Studi e testi, 65), Vatican City 1935, pp. 147-94; Martyr. Roberto, in Vico, 3.