Biography
Romanus Ostiarius
About Romanus Ostiarius
Romanus Ostiarius is remembered as a Roman Christian martyr associated with Lawrence. The Liber Pontificalis names him with three other churchmen as companions in Lawrence’s martyrdom. The Catholic Encyclopedia regards this as an ancient tradition and distinguishes it from the later stories that accumulated around his name.
The best-attested trace of his early veneration is a tomb. The Catholic Encyclopedia places his burial in the catacomb of Cyriaca on the Via Tiburtina and notes that seventh-century pilgrim itineraries explicitly mention his grave. Those notices preserve a remembered martyr and burial place, without supplying a continuous account of his life.
The later Acts of Lawrence turn Romanus into a soldier. In the tradition summarized by the Catholic Church in Norway, he watches Lawrence in prison or sees him suffering, receives instruction in Christianity and is baptized. One version includes a vision of a white figure tending Lawrence’s wounds. These are legendary episodes, rather than a recovered record of his conversion.
The same church account gives a traditional execution date of 9 August 258 and says the commemoration was later restricted to local or particular calendars. The feast is therefore not a universal observance in the present General Roman Calendar.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia distinguishes this Romanus from the deacon of Caesarea who died at Antioch and from several monks and bishops of the same name. Romanus Ostiarius’s enduring identity is the Roman martyr linked with Lawrence and the Via Tiburtina.
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