Martyr 1st century

Virgin-Martyrs Euphemia Dorothy, Thecla & Erasma

died 1st century

Also known as the virgin-martyrs of Aquileia

Four virgins martyred by the sword at Aquileia under Nero, later venerated in Venice and Ravenna

Feast Day

September 3

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Commemorated as

The Holy Virgin-Martyrs Euphemia, Dorothy, Thecla and Erasma of Aquileia

Life

Euphemia, Dorothy, Thecla, and Erasma were four young women of the nobility of Aquileia, in northeastern Italy, who are commemorated together as virgin-martyrs on September 3. According to the tradition preserved in the martyrologies, they were related as sisters and cousins: Euphemia and Dorothy were daughters of Valentius, a pagan nobleman, while Thecla and Erasma were daughters of his brother Valentinianus, a Christian. The four embraced the Christian faith, received baptism, and by private vow dedicated their virginity to God.

When their conversion became known, Valentius had all four arrested. They were subjected to torture to compel them to renounce Christ, and when they refused they were put to death by the sword. By tradition the beheading was carried out by Valentius's own hand, and their bodies were cast into a river near Aquileia. The accounts place their suffering in the first century, in the apostolic age, and the Roman Martyrology and later martyrologies preserve their names among the early Italian martyrs.

Little is recorded of them beyond their names and the outline of their passion, and the surviving narrative is largely legendary in its details. They came to be venerated at Venice, where they are depicted in the South Cupola of the Basilica of St. Mark, and also at Ravenna. Their joint commemoration belongs to the early stratum of the Aquileian church, whose first bishop is traditionally named as Hermagoras.

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The Aquileian Tradition

The fuller form of the legend, transmitted in art and hagiography, relates that the four were daughters of Valentius alone, whose brother Valentinianus persuaded them to convert and who were baptized by Hermagoras, traditionally the first bishop of Aquileia. The martyrologies that underlie this database instead distinguish the two pairs by parentage, assigning Euphemia and Dorothy to Valentius and Thecla and Erasma to Valentinianus; the sources do not fully agree on the family relationships.

In the legendary account, the women had vowed themselves to a heavenly spouse rather than accept marriage. When this was discovered they fled, were betrayed by a servant to the governor named Sebastus, and were tortured and condemned to beheading. After their death the relics were said to have been recovered from the river and a church established in their honor. These narrative elements are late and devotional in character; the historically secure core is only that four virgins of Aquileia were martyred and commemorated together on September 3.

Sources: Roman Martyrology