Hippolytus of Rome

Holy Martyr Hippolytus of Rome was the chief of the prison guards of Rome under the emperors Decius and Valerian, and he received martyrdom on 13 August 258, dragged by wild horses. He is commemorated on the same day as his nurse, the holy Martyr Concordia, on 13 August by the old calendar.

He was brought to Christ by the holy Martyr Lawrence (commemorated on 10 August) and buried Lawrence's body. Learning of this, the emperor had him arrested and asked mockingly whether he too had become a sorcerer, to have stolen Lawrence's body. The saint confessed himself a Christian and was cruelly beaten with rods; his reply was always the same: "I am a Christian." The emperor ordered that he be dressed again in his soldier's garb and told him to remember his rank, to be his friend and to offer sacrifice to the gods as before. The martyr answered: "I am a soldier of Christ, my Saviour, and I desire to die for Him."

Then all his property was taken, his nurse Concordia was beaten to death, and all the members of his household were beheaded before his eyes. Hippolytus was tied to wild horses, which dragged him over stones until he died. This happened on 13 August 258, on the third day after the martyrdom of the archdeacon Lawrence, just as Lawrence himself had told Hippolytus it would. The following night the priest Justin secretly buried all the martyrs at the place of execution; Christians then took up the bodies and laid them beside the relics of the archdeacon Lawrence.