Feast day: June 30
The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church
The nameless multitude of Christians put to death in Rome under Nero after the great fire of the year 64 — burned, crucified, and thrown to beasts in the first imperial persecution.
Blamed for a fire he likely set himself, Nero had Christians covered in pitch and burned as torches in his gardens — the Church's first great host of martyrs.
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