The Martyr and His Companions
The received account places Hippolytus among the martyrs of Rome connected with Saint Laurence the deacon. According to the legend that grew up around Laurence, Hippolytus was the officer appointed to guard the deacon, was converted together with his entire household, and was afterward executed. The companions named with him in the tradition include Concordia, Irenaeus, and Abundius, who are commemorated as members of that household martyred alongside him.
The Christian poet Prudentius composed a hymn on a martyr Hippolytus in which he sets the scene of the martyrdom at Ostia or Porto and describes him as torn to pieces by wild horses. Later observers noted that this manner of death evidently echoes the classical story of the ancient Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, and that the poet appears to have drawn on the older narrative in shaping his account.
Question of Identity
The name Hippolytus is borne in the sources by more than one figure of third-century Rome. Alongside the martyr of the Laurence cycle stands Hippolytus of Rome, described as a priest and ecclesiastical writer and among the most important Christian theologians of the third century, whose native tongue was Greek and who is reported to have studied under Irenaeus of Lyons.
This writer is associated with the work known as the Refutation of All Heresies and is said to have come into sharp conflict with the bishops of Rome of his time over the treatment of repentant sinners, to the point that one tradition holds he headed a rival party. The sources relate that, during the persecution under the emperor Maximinus, he was exiled to Sardinia, where he died, and that he was reconciled to the Church before his death. The catholic encyclopedic tradition distinguishes this theologian from the legendary martyr while acknowledging that the two share the same name and the same August 13 commemoration; the surviving record does not allow a clean separation.
Relics and Veneration
The remains associated with Hippolytus were interred at Rome in a cemetery on the Via Tiburtina, later known as the Catacomb of Sant'Ippolito. The tradition reports that the bodies of Hippolytus and of Pontian were brought to Rome under Pope Fabian and laid to rest there, with the date August 13 attached to the deposition.
In the Eastern Orthodox calendar Hippolytus is commemorated on both August 13 and January 30. As a saint who reposed before the Council of Chalcedon, he belongs to the undivided Church and is venerated across traditions, his feast being kept in the Roman calendar as well.
