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68 Italy and Sicily. There were great colonies of Jews here, among whom, as usual, the Gospel would first be preached. At the Nicene Council (325) there was present a bishop, Mark of Calabria. We have still earlier evidence of Christianity in Sicily. The Roman presbyters and deacons, during the vacancy of the See after the martyrdom of St Fabian (250), write to St Cyprian: "You will have received the letter we wrote to Sicily." There are Christian catacombs in the island, which appear to date from the second century. At Naples, too, are catacombs of the same time.

Then for Southern Italy and Sicily we have a number of acts of martyrs. There are the acts of St Euplius at Catana in the year 304. The "Acta S. Felicis" (Bishop of Tubuza in Africa, † 303) mention Christian communities in Agrigentum, Catana, Messana, and Tauromenium. The "Acta Petri et Pauli" (second or third century) speak of Christians at Messana. The book "Prœdestinatus" (fifth century) mentions the Bishops Eustachius of Lilybæum and Theodorus of Panormus, from which Harnack concludes that it is probable that there were bishops in these cities about the year 300. The most famous Sicilian saints of the Roman persecution are St Agatha at Catana, who was martyred in 251 under Decius, and St Lucy of Syracuse under Diocletian (284-305). On