Martyr Anastasia the Roman

Anastasia, called the Roman, was according to her Life a young nun in a small convent near Rome, raised from childhood by its abbess Sophia. During the persecution under Decius and Valerian she was arrested and brought before the commander Probus.

She refused both his offers of marriage and wealth and his threats. The Life tells that she was cruelly tortured — her tongue was cut out — and then beheaded, in the mid-3rd century. A man named Cyril, who gave her water to drink during her torments, was executed as well.