ante diem vi idus maias
- 214 (?) A.D. — birth of the future emperor Claudius II Gothicus
- 232 A.D. — martyrdom of Felix and Palmatius
- 238 A.D. — murder of Maximinus Thrax (by one reckoning)
- 250 A.D. — martyrdom of Epimachus at Alexandria
- 251 A.D. — martyrdom of Alphius, Philadelphus, Cyrinus, and Benedicta at Leontini (?)
rogueclassicism 
LOVE this site, but this is the first I’ve heard of martyrdoms under Alexander Severus, in 232 – when he was preparing to invade Persia – and none of these alleged saints show up in the catalog at Advent.org. Whole families and households of senators and consuls? It’s surprising to be suprised by such information. I’m working on Alexander Severus and I’d love to know if these martyrdoms have any scholarly support, apart from old-monks-tales…
Jim
Not a lot online on this, but one site I did find: http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0510.shtml gives a date range of 222-232 for this one and suggests they were victims (along with Simplicius et al) of the ‘fury of the mob’ as opposed (perhaps) to an official imperial persecution …
Thanks – that makes sense. I like the comment that the “heathen mob” were Benedictines 🙂 Callistus was killed in 223, I think, in an outgrowth of the riots that preceded the assassination of the jurist Ulpian. I appreciate the link!
Jim