Biography
Antoninus of Piacenza
About Antoninus of Piacenza
The evidence for Antoninus is principally evidence for his early cult, not a detailed life. Oxford’s Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity database reports that Victricius of Rouen included a reference to healing at Piacenza through Antonius in a work dated 395/397 and that the Martyrologium Hieronymianum associates Antoninus or Antonius with Piacenza on September 30. These witnesses support a late fourth-century cult at the city, but do not establish a secure personal chronology or specific martyrdom narrative.The Catholic Encyclopedia says Antonius suffered martyrdom at Piacenza in the second or third century, while saying he is reported to have belonged to the Theban Legion. The Roman Martyrology transcription repeats that legion association, but the importer does not treat it as established fact. The anonymous Piacenza pilgrim who wrote a Holy Land itinerary is a different person; modern scholarship explicitly distinguishes the anonymous author from the martyr Antoninus. No birth or death dates, specific execution site, or personal details are entered.
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