Constantius of Perugia

Saint Constantius was a bishop and martyr in Umbria, in Italy, in the second century, when Christians were persecuted by the Roman emperors. Local tradition counts him as the first bishop of Perugia, and the city still honours him as one of its patron saints. He departed to the Lord around the year 170, through martyrdom, near Foligno.

According to tradition, Constantius took up the care of the city at the age of thirty. It is said that he preached the Gospel with zeal and looked after the poor. The legend of his life survives in four versions, which differ in details but agree on the place where he suffered.

Martyrdom

In these accounts Constantius was arrested during the persecution under the emperor Antoninus (some sources name Marcus Aurelius) and was scourged. He was then thrown, together with his companions, into a blazing furnace, from which all came out unharmed. He was imprisoned and was set free by his guards, whom he had brought to the Christian faith.

The saint took refuge in the house of a Christian named Anastasius, but both were arrested again. After torments in the prisons of Assisi and Spello, they were beheaded near Foligno.

Veneration

His cult spread beyond Umbria, and the Martyrologium Hieronymianum commemorates him on 29 January. According to the accounts of his martyrdom, his body was carried to Perugia and buried near the site of the present cathedral. The church dedicated to him in the city was pulled down in 1527, and in 1825 his relics were solemnly moved to a new altar in the church of San Costanzo.

In iconography Saint Constantius is shown as a bishop with mitre and crozier, often beside another patron of Perugia, Saint Herculanus. On his feast the people of Perugia keep an old custom of baking the "torcolo", a ring-⁠shaped cake made with pine nuts, raisins and dried fruit.