A different tour of Rome. Civis Romanus sum

Today the Church celebrate the festivity of SS. Nereo and Achilleo. Those were two romans soldiers or most probably two servants of Flavia Domitilla the granddaughter of the Emperor Domiziano, one of the Flavi's noble family. They were converted to Christianity by Saint Peter during his permanence in Rome. Their owner one day made a vow of castity, and so they convinced her to honour her promise by giving up a marriage with the son of a consul. This man, angry, convinced the Emeperor Domiziano to punish them: infact they were exiled with Flavia Domitilla on the isle of Ponza. When Traiano became the Emperor they escaped in Terracina: here they still didn't want to convince Flavia to renunce to her vow, so Nereo and Achilleo were condemned to be decapitated. Their body were buried in the cemetery of Domitilla, but later they were moved in the a church called Titulus fasciolae. The name of this church derives from some bendages (fasciolae) that were found near Porta Capena (a door of the walls of Rome). These bendages were of Saint Peter. We talked about his permanence in Rome (here and here); in particular these were the ones that he had to cover his wounds and he lost them during his escape and the legend tells that these bondages are miracles. For more, post me or e-mail me. Dblk