Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrice (Viatrix) (d. c.304), martyrs. The record of their martyrdoms at Rome on the road to Porto is known from the Martyrology of Jerome. In 1868 the cemetery of Generosa was discovered beside this road; it had a small church dating from the time of Damascus, with contemporary frescoes and inscriptions. These list the martyrs as above and add Rufinianus, of whom nothing is known.
The unreliable Acts say that Simplicius and Faustinus were brothers, put to death for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods; Viatrix was their sister, who buried them, and who was later denounced by a neighbour who coveted her property. She was strangled in prison and buried with her brothers.
The relics of these martyrs were translated to the church of St. Bibiana and later to the basilica of St. Mary Major. Feast: formerly 29 July.
Bibliography
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- B.L.S., vii. 238
