Their
Acts, written for the most part prior to the 9th century, describe them as
Persian nobles, captured and taken to Rome during a military campaign in the third century. There they became slaves, converted to Christianity and helped bury the Christian dead. They came to the attention of Emperor
Decius who had them taken in chains before the Roman Senate, where they refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, and so were dismembered by gladiators in the
Colosseum approximately in the year 250. The
Acts certainly contain several fictitious statements about the cause, the circumstances of their coming to Rome and the nature of their torments. They relate that their bodies were buried by a subdeacon, "Quirinus", and later transferred in the reign of
Constantine the Great (reigned 306–337) to the Cemetery of Pontianus on the road to Porto, near the gates of Rome. A
fresco found on a sixth century
sarcophagus supposed to contain their remains represents them receiving crowns from Christ. Several cities, notably
Florence and
Soissons, claim possession of their bodies, but the
Acta Sanctorum insist that they rest in the Basilica of
San Marco Evangelista al Campidoglio, Rome, having been brought there in 1474. They may have even had their own church in Rome, which has now been lost. The Benedictine
Abbey of Sainte-Marie in
Arles-sur-Tech, France also claims their
tomb. Abdon and Sennen are patron saints of
Calasparra, in
Murcia, Spain. The feasts days celebrated in their honor in this Spanish town date back to the 16th century. == List of churches dedicated to these saints ==