Abdon and Sennen

Abdon and Sennen, martyrs who died at Rome c.303 in the persecution of Diocletian. They were buried in the cemetery of Pontian on the Via Portuensis. Their early cult is recorded in the Depositio Martyrum (354) and in early Roman Sacramentaries. A fresco of the 6th–7th centuries near their tomb depicts them in Persian dress, serving Christ. It seems likely that they were indeed Persians, but perhaps of servile rather than noble rank, which was attributed to them by their unreliable Acts. Feast: 30 July.

Bibliography
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• AA.SS. Iul. VII (1731), 130–41; C.M.H., p. 405: H. Delehaye, ‘Recherches sur le légendier romain’, Anal. Boll., li (1933), 33–98