POTAMENA and BASILIDES, saints, martyrs. — They are commemorated in the Martyrologies on June 28 and June 30 respectively, but belong to the group of PLUTARCH (v.).
P., the daughter of Marcella, who also suffered martyrdom, was arrested in Alexandria under Septimius Severus; after being horribly tortured all over her body, she was condemned to capital punishment by the judge Aquila. As she was being led to execution, B., one of the soldiers accompanying her, out of pity defended her from the insults of the mob. P. promised him that after her death she would pray for him. Some days after P. had been killed by drops of boiling pitch on her body, B. refused to take an oath, declaring himself a Christian. Imprisoned, he told some Christians who came to visit him that P. had appeared to him, placing a crown on his head and assuring him that soon he would obtain the grace he had asked for. He was immediately baptized and beheaded the next day.