According to several ancient documents of the city of Atina, under the governance of Bishop Prudenzio, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian and the prefecture of Timoteo, the martyrdom of Saint Valentine, a noble and wealthy citizen of Atina, also took place. However, since there are no authoritative historical sources that can confirm these events with certainty, I merely report what the cited documents attest.
The physician Giovanni Battista Panico, around the year 1644, while recording certain events concerning his homeland, Atina, mentioned the martyrdom of Bishop Prudenzio and Saint Valentine. He states that Bishop Prudenzio, while inside the Temple of Juno near the Antonine Baths, was caught by pagans as he attempted to remove the idol consecrated to the goddess. For this reason, he was killed, and his body remained exposed for three days in front of the temple until, under the cover of night, some Christians retrieved it and buried it in the Church of Saint Peter.
Saint Valentine, also a noble and wealthy citizen of Atina, suffered martyrdom by order of Consul Timoteo during the reign of Emperor Probus.
Dr. Marco Antonio Palombo, in his brief report on the city of Atina, after narrating the martyrdom of Saint Prudenzio and Saint Valentine, wrote that during the persecution ordered by Emperor Diocletian, Saint Valentine, a noble and wealthy citizen of Atina, was martyred.
Later, the inhabitants of Atina built a church in his honor in Agnone, their villa, where a monastery belonging to the monks of Montecassino was later established. This monastery was destroyed by the Saracens, but a certain Pontius Marso rebuilt it and, upon discovering that it belonged to the Cassinese monks, returned it to them. In 1014, Prince Pandolfo of Capua confirmed this ownership with an official privilege.
Leone Ostiense, in his Chronicles of Montecassino, recounts that after the death of Abbot Leone, Prince Pandolfo of Capua confirmed the monks’ possession of the Monastery of Saint Valentine, located in the same territory. This monastery, destroyed by the Saracens, had shortly before been restored by Pontius, son of Allone from the County of the Marsi. Recognizing its historical connection to Montecassino, he returned it to the monks out of devotion.
An anonymous author, in a brief catalog and summary of the deeds of the various princes who ruled the city of Atina around 1565, also recorded the martyrdom of Saint Valentine.
According to this source, Timoteo, consul during the time of Emperor Diocletian, had Saint Valentine martyred in Atina around the year 302. After his execution, Christians, secretly and at night, retrieved his body and gave him a proper burial.
Text freely adapted from “Memorie istoriche dell’antica città d’Atina” by Tauleri Bonaventura, 1702.