LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
Academy · Biography & Mythology

Leontius

a physician, saint, and martyr, who was probably of Arabian origin, but born at Vicentia in Venetia, in the third century after Christ. He afterwards removed to Aquileia in Venetia, where, in company with St. Carpophorus, who was either his brother or intimate friend, he distinguished himself by his zeal in favour of Christianity. For this offence they were brought before the governor Lysias, and after being tortured in various modes, and (according to the legend) miraculously delivered, they were at last beheaded, probably A. D. 300. Their memory is celebrated by the Romish church, on August 20th. See the Acta Sanctorum (in Aug. 20), where several difficulties are critically discussed at length.

From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.