TEBE, saints, martyrs. — Under this designation are included: 1) the martyrs of Agauno, presented as belonging to the Theban Legion of Eucherius of Lyon; 2) a large group of martyrs of the Gauls and Italy, especially in the north, who were associated without any foundation by medieval and modern hagiographers with the glorious heroes of Agauno.
I. THE T. MARTYRS. — Properly speaking, these are the martyrs of Agauno (v.) in Valais, whose martyrdom is described in the *Passio Acaunensium Martyrum*, written by Eucherius, bishop of Lyon (c. 434–50), based on local traditions. This *Passio* (ed. B. Krusch, MGH, *Script. rer. Meroving.*, III [1896], pp. 32–39) is preserved in manuscripts dating from the 7th to the 14th centuries: the earliest from the 7th century and one from the 10th are without interpolations, while the others are variously interpolated in the final paragraphs (8th ed. in the edition by Th. Ruinart [PL 50, 827–32]; 16–19 in the 1st critical ed.). To which of the two Theban legions of the Diocletian era—the *tertia Diocletiana Thebeorum* or the *prima Maximiana Thebeorum*, mentioned in the *Notitia Dignitatum* (ed. O. Seeck, Berlin 1876, p. 25, cf. also p. 64)—Saint Maurice (v.) and his companions (Sept. 22) belonged, if indeed they belonged to either, cannot be determined. However, the historicity of the martyrs of Agauno, even if it is difficult to ascertain their number, is beyond doubt, especially after confirmation provided by systematic excavations of the exceptional archaeological site of the Agaunian *martolet* (v. MAURO).