GENESIO, saint, martyr. — Protector of theater artists. Hagiographic and martyrological sources report two martyrs of this name: one at Arles (feast on 25 August); the other at Rome (feast on 24 or also 25 August), venerated on the Via Tiburtina, near the cemetery of S. Ippolito, as can be inferred from the Itineraries, that is, from the Notitia ecclesiarum and the De locis, where there was a small church restored by Gregory III (731–41: Lib. Pont., I, p. 419).
It is commonly believed today that this concerns a single historical figure, namely the martyr of Arles, who was also venerated at Rome and in Italy, as well as in Gaul and in
Spain; the profession of mime and the spectacular conversion of the Roman G. belong more to legend than to history. It is worth recalling, however, that this narrative, placed by Delehaye (Les légendes hagiographiques, 3rd ed., Brussels 1927, pp. 113–14) among the imaginary romances, is earlier than the 6th century, since the Calendar of Carthage (early 6th century) contains the following remarkable notice under 24 August: — Sancti Genesi mimi —. According to the aforementioned legend, G.’s conversion would have taken place while he was parodying the ceremonies of Holy Baptism on the theater stage. Diocletian is said to have had him cruelly tortured and beheaded on 25 August. Similar accounts are read concerning converted mimes: Gelasius of Heliopolis (27 February), Ardalianus (14 April), and Porphyrius (15 September).
We are better informed about S. G. of Arles: his brief Passio, written at the beginning of the 5th century by a Paulinus who may also have been the bishop of Nola, is a trustworthy document, though with some embellishment (S. Cavallin assigns the Passio to the 6th century and the Sermo no. 3306 of the BHL to S. Hilary of Arles, 429–49; for now, these datings are hypothetical). G., a stenographer, at the outbreak of a persecution whose nature is not further specified, throws the wax tablets at the judge’s feet and flees. Still a catechumen, he hoped to receive Baptism, but, surprised near the Rhône by the police, he threw himself into the river to save himself and reached the opposite bank by swimming; captured immediately, he was executed on the spot. At Arles, a basilica arose at the site of his burial and became a pilgrimage destination (there was also a chapel on the right bank of the Rhône, the place of his martyrdom; the Martyrologium Hieronymianum records under 16 December the dedication at Arles of a basilica and an altar to S. G.), and his cult soon became widespread. Prudentius (Peristephanos, IV, 35) and Venantius Fortunatus (Carm., VIII, 3, 157) celebrate him enthusiastically. The head of G. appears to be represented on some sarcophagi (cf. Wilpert, Sarcofagi, I, pp. 46, 77 and pls. 37, 5; 39, 2; 55, 3; 140, 4 and 5).
BHL: Acta SS. Augusti, V, Antwerp 1739, pp. 119–23 (G. Mimo), 123–36 (G. of Arles); BHL, nos. 3304–10 (G. of Arles), 3315–26 (G. Mimo); Martyr. Hieronymianum, pp. 463, 464–65, 650; Martyr. Romanum, p. 359; B. von der Lage, Studien zur Genesien legenda, Berlin 1898 (denies the historicity of the Roman martyr); H. Quentin, Les Martyrolages historiques du moyen âge, Paris 1908, pp. 172, 233–41; C. Van de Vorst, Une passion inédite de s. Porphyre le Mime, in Annaleza Balland., 29 (1919), pp. 258–62; H. Leclercq, Arles, in DACL, I, II (1907), col. 2009 and Genès (le Commidien), ibid., VI, 1 (1924), cols. 903–909; O. Marucchi, Le catacombe romane, Rome (1933), p. 370; H. Delehaye, Les origines du culte des Martyrs, 2nd ed., Brussels 1933, pp. 348–349; P. Franchi de' Cavalieri, S. G. di Arelate, s. Ferreolo di Vienna, s. Giuliano di Brivas, in Note agiografiche, 8 (Studi e Testi, 65), Vatican City 1935, pp. 203–10; F. Benoit, Les cimetières suburbaines d'Arles (Studi di antichità cristiane, 11), Vatican City 1935; R. Valentini and G. Zucchetti, Codice topografico della città di Roma, II, Rome 1942, pp. 80, 113; S. Cavallin, Saint Genès le notaire, in Eranos Lofstediamus, 43 (Uppsala 1945), pp. 150–75; cf. F. Halkin, in Anal. Balland., 65 (1947), p. 282.