PROTO and GIACINTO, saints, martyrs. — They are already commemorated in the Depositi Martyrum on September 11th, buried in the cemetery of Bassilla on the Old Salarian Way.
On the same date they are commemorated in the Gelasian Sacramentary of the 8th century from St. Gall and in the Gregorian, while their tomb is recalled by the Itineraries of the 7th century with the indication “in spelunca.” It has been identified with a double crypt where on March 21, 1845 the place was found intact, with Giacinto’s epitaph still in situ and his charred remains. The tombs of the two martyrs had already been obstructed by a landslide in the 4th century, and Pope Damasus had arranged for their restoration with an access staircase and a skylight: a work of the priest Theodore. The tombs of the two martyrs were embellished (5th century) through the care of a priest Leo, not otherwise identified (cf. E. Josi, “Sepulcrum Hiacinthi martiris Leopardus presbyter ornavi,” in Römische Quartalschrift, 32 [1924], pp. 10-36).
They are recalled in the late and legendary Passio of St. Eugenia (BHL, 2666), according to which they would have been brothers and, as eunuchs, in the service of Eugenia. After accompanying their mistress to Alexandria, they would have been given to the virgin Bassilla, whom they converted to Christianity. During the persecution of Valerian, they would have been arrested following a popular uprising and, led into a temple to sacrifice, their prayers would have reduced the statue of the god to dust. The prefect Nicia would then have had them killed.