The Martyrium Cononis is an anonymous Christian text from the Late Antique period, likely written between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. It belongs to a common genre of early Christian literature known as martyr acts, which were composed to honor saints and martyrs. These texts were often used for devotion and liturgy within local communities, especially after the end of official persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.
The work is a prose account detailing the martyrdom of a saint named Conon. It survives as a single, complete narrative. The text is significant as a primary source for understanding the veneration, or cult, of Saint Conon in the region of Pamphylia in Asia Minor (modern-day southern Turkey). According to modern scholars, the narrative reflects local traditions and religious life in that area. The martyr’s memory was promoted through such texts to provide a model of faith and to encourage pilgrimage to sites associated with him, such as a church dedicated to Conon in the ancient city of Magydos. As a typical example of early hagiography, its importance lies less in its authorship—which remains unknown—and more in what it reveals about the spread and practice of saint veneration in late ancient Christianity.
Available Works
Sources
- Oxford Research Encyclopedia Entry (Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics) Accessed: 2026-01-26
- Stanford Encyclopedia Entry (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Accessed: 2026-01-26