The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313

Cassian of Imola

d. c. AD 303 (martyr) · Schoolmaster · Martyr · Imola (Forum Cornelii)

The Ante-Nicene Church

Who Cassian of Imola was

A Christian schoolmaster of Imola handed over, when he would not sacrifice, to be stabbed to death with the iron styli of his own pupils — the slower for the smallness of the weapons. Prudentius says in Peristephanon IX that he stood before the painted scene of it at the martyr's tomb and had the story read to him there.

Verified single attestation

Prudentius (Peristephanon 9) alone — the poem is itself the earliest record of the shrine.

Also listed in martyrs and the great persecution.

Common questions

When did Cassian die?

Cassian of Imola is dated d. c. AD 303 (martyr) in the archive, which places Cassian in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

Which early sources mention Cassian?

Cassian of Imola is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Prudentius. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Cassian from?

The archive associates Cassian of Imola with Imola (Forum Cornelii).

Who were Cassian’s contemporaries?

The archive links Cassian of Imola to 1 other figure, including Emperor Diocletian. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

Primary-source mentions (1)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Prudentius, Peristephanon IX (c. AD 400; original Latin, working translation)

c. AD 405
[First attested ~100 years later, by a pilgrim eyewitness of the shrine.] I lay at the tomb, weighing my hurts and my sins... I raised my face, and there stood over against me a painted image of the martyr, bearing a thousand wounds, all his parts torn, and the pricking points of little pens. The keeper of the shrine said: 'What thou seest, stranger, is no idle old wives' tale; the picture tells the history — the true faith of the ancient time.'
Prudentius · source text

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