View source for Saint Apollonius the Apologist

{{Saints
|SaintName= Saint Apollonius the Apologist
|SaintStage= Saint
|SaintBirthDate= Unknown (c. early 2nd century AD)
|SaintBirthPlace= Unknown (possibly Rome or Asia Minor, Roman Empire)
|SaintBirthCoordinates= 41.9028° N, 12.4964° E (Rome, speculative)
|SaintDeathDate= c. 185–190 AD
|DeathPlace= Rome, Roman Empire (now Italy)
|SaintDeathCoordinates= 41.9028° N, 12.4964° E
|SaintCauseOfDeath= Martyrdom (beheading)
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|Canonized= Yes
|CanonizationDate= Pre-Congregation
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|FeastDay= April 18
|Profession= Senator, Apologist, Martyr
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|Patronage= Apologists, defenders of the faith
|Attributes= Scroll, martyr’s palm, Roman senator’s garb
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|AdditionalVeneration= Eastern Orthodox Church
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'''Saint Apollonius the Apologist''', a 2nd-century Roman senator, was a learned Christian martyr whose eloquent defense of the faith before the Roman Senate survives as a rare early apologetic text. Likely born in the early 100s, possibly in Rome or Asia Minor, he converted to Christianity, risking his elite status. Around 185–190 AD, under Emperor Commodus, he was denounced—perhaps by a slave—for his faith, per the *Lex Cornelia*. Addressing the Senate, he argued Christianity’s truth with philosophical rigor, only to be condemned and beheaded, his steadfastness immortalized by Saint Jerome and Eusebius. His *Apology*, preserved in fragments, marks him as a pioneer of Christian intellectual witness.

Canonized pre-Congregation, Apollonius’s feast day, April 18, honors his martyrdom, though no primary shrine remains—his relics lost to time. Patron of apologists and defenders of the faith, his legacy rests in his words, not miracles, reflecting a cerebral sanctity. Venerated in Catholic and Orthodox traditions, his death in Rome underscores early Christianity’s clash with imperial power, his *Apology* a bridge between pagan and Christian thought in a hostile age.