GIULIO, saint, martyr. — He is commemorated in the Hieronymian Martyrology on 27 May and 4 June, but the former date seems the more certain, as is also indicated by the Passio, which is very ancient and generally reliable. According to this account, G. was a veteran of the army, in which he had served for 27 years. During the persecution of Diocletian he was arrested and brought before the tribunal of the governor Massimo at Durostorum in Moesia. Urged by the judge to sacrifice, he refused resolutely, recalling his loyalty in the army and his valor in battle. He was therefore condemned to decapitation.
BIBL.: Acta Sancti Iulii veterani martyris, in Anal. Boll., 10 (1891), pp. 50-52; P. Franchi de' Cavalieri, Osservazioni sopra alcuni atti di martiri, in Nuovo bull. di arch. Christ., 10 (1904), pp. 22-26; Martyr, Hieronymianum, pp. 276, 304; H. Delchaye, Les origines du culte des martyrs, Bruxelles 1933, p. 249. Agostino Amore