Anthimus of Rome

Saint Anthimus was a priest and hieromartyr of Rome, put to death in the year 303, in the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian. His life is largely legend. According to tradition he was born in Bithynia. The Church commemorates him on 11 May.

The legend

A Christian priest, Anthimus was imprisoned for his faith in the time of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. According to the Acts of Saint Anthimus, Faltonius Pinianus, governor of the province, fell gravely ill after the death of his counsellor Cheremon, known for persecuting Christians. His wife, the Christian Anicia Lucina (Licinia), a niece of the emperor Gallienus and well known for her charity to imprisoned Christians, found Anthimus in prison. Anthimus brought Pinianus to the Lord, and the governor was healed. In gratitude Pinianus freed all the Christians of his province and gave them homes on his villas in Sabina and Picenum. The deacons Sisinnius, Diocletian and Florentius settled at Osimo, but three years later they were stoned for refusing to renounce their faith. Pinianus allowed Anthimus to hide at his villa on the Via Salaria.

Settled in Italy, Anthimus brought many to the Christian faith, and countless miracles are attributed to him. He converted a priest of the god Silvanus, together with his whole family. Accused of having destroyed the image of Silvanus, he was thrown into the Tiber with a stone tied around his neck. According to the legend, an angel miraculously rescued him. Captured again later, he was beheaded by order of the consul Priscus and was buried in the oratory where he used to pray.

The other martyrs

After Anthimus was killed, the turn came of Saint Maximus, beheaded a few days later, on 19 or 20 October, and buried in a chapel on the Via Salaria. Saint Bassus preached in the same place; he refused to renounce the Lord and to sacrifice to Bacchus and Ceres, and was cruelly tortured. Fabius suffered likewise. Pinianus and Lucina fell asleep in peace at Rome. The Acts name eight martyrs together with Anthimus.

Veneration

Saint Anthimus was especially honoured at Cures (today Fara in Sabina), where many churches were dedicated to him. Other traditions call him bishop of Terni, Spoleto and Foligno, and at the council of 501 the bishop of Cures signed as bishop of the diocese of Saint Anthimus. His tomb, at first at Montemaggiore in the Marche, was a place of pilgrimage. In the time of Charlemagne his body was moved to Tuscany, near Montalcino, where the abbey of Sant'Antimo stands today.