The Sillitan Martyrs

The Scillitan Martyrs were a company of twelve North African Christians who were executed for their beliefs on 17 July 180 AD. The martyrs take their name from Scilla (or Scillium), a town in Numidia. The Acta of the Scillitan Martyrs are considered to be the earliest documents of the church of Africa and also the earliest specimen of Christian Latin. The martyrs' trial and execution took place in Carthage under the proconsul Publius Vigellius Saturninus, whom Tertullian declares to have been the first persecutor of Christians in Africa. The Scillitan sufferers were twelve in all—seven men and five women. Their names were Speratus, Nartzalus, Cintinus (Cittinus), Veturius, Felix, Aquilinus, Laetantius, Januaria, Generosa, Vestia, Donata, and Secunda. Six had already been tried: of the remainder, to whom these Acta primarily relate, Speratus was the principal spokesman. He claimed for himself and his companions that they had lived a quiet and moral life, paying their dues and doing no wrong to their neighbors. But when called upon to swear by the name of the emperor, he replied "I recognize not the empire of this world; but rather do I serve that God whom no man hath seen, nor with these eyes can see." The response was a reference to the language of 1 Tim. 6:16. In reply to the question, "What are the things in your satchel?", he said "Books and letters of Paul, a just man." The martyrs were offered a delay of 30 days to reconsider their decision, which they all refused. They are remembered on July 17.