Martyr
Martyrs Protus and Hyacinth of Rome
III в. (по месяцеслову — ок. 262)
Also known as: Мчч. Прот и Иакинф, Прмчч. Прот и Иакинф, Прот Римский, Иакинф Римский, Гиацинт
Brothers and eunuch servants of the Nun-martyr Eugenia of Rome who were baptized and tonsured with her in Egypt and later, in Rome, brought the maiden Basilla to Christ; they were beheaded during the persecution of the third century.
According to the Life of the Nun-martyr Eugenia, Protus and Hyacinth were her eunuch servants. When Eugenia, daughter of Philip, the prefect of Egypt under Commodus, secretly became a Christian, they accompanied her to a monastery dressed as men, and Bishop Helius baptized and tonsured them all; Russian calendars therefore also call them venerable martyrs. After Philip, who became bishop of Alexandria, was killed, Eugenia's mother Claudia settled near Rome with her daughter and servants. During the persecution under Gallienus, Eugenia sent Protus and Hyacinth to instruct the noble maiden Basilla, who was baptized and later executed for refusing marriage. The two brothers were dragged to a pagan temple, where, according to the Life, the idol fell and shattered; they were then beheaded.
The Orthodox Encyclopedia notes that Eugenia's Life is full of anachronisms, but Protus, Hyacinth and Basilla appear to be historical martyrs. Their feast on 11 September and their grave in the cemetery of Basilla on the Via Salaria are recorded in the Roman Depositio martyrum of 354; Pope Damasus wrote an epitaph calling them brothers, and in 1845 Hyacinth's undisturbed tomb with its original inscription was discovered. The Russian Church commemorates them on 24 December (6 January) with St Eugenia and the Martyr Claudia.