POLIEUTO, saint, martyr. — On his tomb, in Melitene in Armenia, a church already existed at the end of the 4th century, and another was dedicated to him in Constantinople in the 5th century.
The Greeks celebrate him on 9 January, whereas in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum he is commemorated on the 7th, and in the Roman on 13 February. He appears to have perished under Decius. The Passio, probably from the 5th century, is a reworking of an older homily, but is filled with legendary elements.
BIBL.: S. Gregorio di Tours, De gloria martyrum, 103; Tillemont, III, pp. 424–27; Acta SS. Februarii, II, Parigi 1864, pp. 650–55; H. Delehaye, Les origines du culte des martyrs, Bruxelles 1933, pp. 180, 210, 392; Martyr. Hieronymianum, p. 30; Martyr. Romanum, p. 61. Agostino Amore