St. Nereus

St. Nereus was an early Roman martyr, honored from ancient times together with his companion St. Achilleus. The most reliable witness to the two saints is their tomb in the catacomb of Domitilla on the Via Ardeatina outside Rome, and the verse inscription composed for it in the late fourth century by Pope St. Damasus. Damasus records that Nereus and Achilleus were soldiers who had carried out the cruel orders of a tyrant, but who, converted to Christ, threw down their shields and weapons, confessed the faith, and were put to death. The date and circumstances of their martyrdom are uncertain. A later legendary passion makes them chamberlains of Flavia Domitilla, a Christian noblewoman of the imperial Flavian family exiled under Domitian, which would place their deaths around the end of the first century—the traditional dating. Historians, however, generally consider Damasus's account of soldier-martyrs more trustworthy and think it probable that they died in one of the later persecutions, most likely under Diocletian in the early fourth century. In keeping with the Church's practice for such early martyrs, their veneration rests on the certain fact of their martyrdom rather than on the details of the legends. A basilica was raised over their tomb in the catacomb of Domitilla in the fourth century, and its remains—including a column carved with the martyrdom of Achilleus, among the earliest surviving images of Christian martyrdom—were rediscovered in the nineteenth century. Their relics were later translated into the city, to the ancient titular church of Santi Nereo e Achilleo near the Baths of Caracalla, restored in the sixteenth century by Cardinal Baronius; both sites can be visited by pilgrims in Rome today. Nereus and Achilleus are commemorated together on May 12 in the General Roman Calendar. Venerated since before formal canonization processes existed, they stand among the soldier-martyrs of Rome whose conversion from the service of empire to the service of Christ the ancient Church held up as a triumph of faith.