 | ||
The Three virgins of Tuburga were a group of three young women who were executed for being Christians around 257AD, in what was Roman era Tunisia. They are saints of the Orthodox church and Maxima of Tuburbium is considered a saint of the Roman Catholic church. They are remembered in both churches on 30 July.
The group, Maxima, Donatilla and Secunda were martyrs of Valerian persecution, of the 3rd century Roman empire. They are among the few named victims of this widespread persecution and our main source on them in John Foxe who records that they "had gall and vinegar given them to drink, were then severely scourged, tormented on a gibbet, rubbed with lime, scorched on a gridiron, worried by wild beasts, and at length beheaded".
Maxima, aged 14 and Donatilla were residents of Tuburga a Roman colony in Africa Proconsularis, six miles southwest of Carthage. When an edict was issued for the town folk to sacrifice to the Roman gods the girls refused and they were tried and sentenced by Proconsul Anulinus. At some stage in prison they met up with Secunda, aged 12, who is assumed was arrested separately, since she is not mentioned in the pro-consular interview. Tradition holds the older two girls tried to convince the younger Secunda to recant as she was younger and the only child of an aged father, but she refused. The girls were, according to their vita, tortured, and exposed to Wild animals which failed to attack them. The order was eventually given to behead them.
Legacy
The girls are considered saints with a feast day celebrated on 30 July. They are sometimes mistaken with Perpetua and Felicitas who were from another town, Thuburbo Majus. The Emperor Valerian was latter captured in battle by the Parthians and reputedly flayed, causing the belief among some sectors of the North African church to claim it was just retribution for his actions against the martyrs.