Biography
Sennen
About Sennen
The Roman Martyrology commemorates Abdon and Sennen together on July 30. Treccani identifies the Depositio martyrum, preserved in the Chronography of 354, as the earliest evidence for their Roman cult: it records the pair at the cemetery of Pontianus, also known by the place-name ad Ursum Pileatum. The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology confirms that ancient sources locate their tombs at the Catacomb of Pontian. This establishes an early Roman commemoration and burial tradition, not the personal history narrated in later acts.
The familiar passion describes the two as Persian notables brought to Rome under Decius and executed after burying Christian martyrs. Treccani states that the passion has no historical value and that only the martyrs' names and existence are secure. No individual dates, birthplace, or separate life episode for Sennen can therefore be responsibly supplied. The existing April 22 date appears to have been drawn from a martyrology entry that mentions figures whose story is recounted in the Acts of Abdon and Sennen; it is not the saints' own feast. The Roman Martyrology commemorates the pair on July 30.
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