Saint Edistus () (also known as Aristus, Orestes, Horestes) is venerated as a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

and

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

by the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

churches. His legend states that he was martyred on the

Via Laurentina The Via Laurentina is the name borne by an ancient and a modern road of Italy, both leading southwards from Rome. The ancient road The question of the nomenclature of the group of roads between the Via Ardeatina and the Via Ostiensis is somewhat ...

and his ''passio'' places his martyrdom during the reign of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

, on October 12, 60 AD. His companions are named as Thermantia (Termanzia), Christina, his servant Victoria, and the priest Priscus.

Veneration

During the

papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...

, there existed at San Paolo fuori le Mura a monastery dedicated to Edistus. In the seventh century, his

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

, as well as those belonging to Christina and Victoria, were still venerated there. The

sepulcher A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immurement'', althou ...

of Edistus was located at the sixteenth milestone of the

Via Ardeatina The Via Ardeatina (Ardeatine Way) was an ancient road of Rome leading to the town of Ardea, after which it is named. Ardea lay 24 miles (39 kilometers) distant from Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most ...

. A church in honor of him existed there, which was restored during the papacy of

Adrian I Pope Adrian I (; 700 – 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 until his death on 25 December 795. Descended from a family of the military aristocracy of Rome known as ''domini de via Lata'', ...

(772–795). There also existed a papal estate ('' domusculta'') there called ''Sancti Edisti''. He is patron of an old church on the

Monte Soratte Monte Soratte (ancient: ''Soracte'') is a mountain ridge in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy. It is a narrow, isolated limestone ridge with a length of and six peaks. Located some south east of Civita Castellana and c. north of Ro ...

, near which a town, Sant'Oreste, is named after him. The first mention of Sant'Oreste is made by Benedict of Soracte in his ''Chronicon'' in 747 AD, in which he mentions ''Curtis Sancii Heristi''. One source states that the

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

derives from the family of the Aristi or Edisti. A member of this family was martyred for his faith around 68 AD. Linguistic corruptions transformed the name from ''Sanctus Edistus'' to ''Sanctus Heristus, Santo Resto, San Tresto, Sant'Oreste''. According to the legendary account of his martyrdom, he was a soldier who had been christened by

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

. At a site called ''Laurento'', a

sandpit A sandpit (most Commonwealth countries) or sandbox (US and Canada) is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with soft (beach) sand in which children can play. Sharp sand (as used in the building industry) is not suitable for su ...

(''arenario''), Edistus participated in a

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

at which Priscus was officiating. Thermantia, Christina, and the servant Victoria were present. When they were discovered by the authorities, they were

buried alive Premature burial, also known as live burial, burial alive, or vivisepulture, means to be buried while still alive. Animals or humans may be buried alive accidentally on the mistaken assumption that they are dead, or intentionally as a form of ...

in the same sandpit, with the exception of Victoria, who managed to escape, but who was later killed in a nearby forest. A church and village grew on the site of sandpit. This was the ''curtis Sancti Heristi''. The village later moved to the slopes of Mount Soratte for better defense against raiders. This became the ''Castrum Sancti Heristi'', later Sant'Oreste. The Romanesque church of Sant'Edisto still exists.

Notes

External links

*
SAN EDISTO

Sant'Edisto
* {{usurped,

} 60 deaths Deaths by live burial 1st-century Romans 1st-century Christian martyrs Year of birth unknown