Santa
Prisca was built in 499 CE on the site of ancient pagan temple and Christian
house church. Prisca was a young Roman
Christian who was tortured and executed sometime in the first century. The date of her birth and death are
uncertain, but she is not believed to be the same Prisca as the wife of Aquila
and friend of the Apostle Paul in Corinth.
According
to the legend Prisca was a child of noble birth who grew up on the Aventine and
was converted and baptized by Saint Peter.
When she refused to make a sacrifice to the pagan god Apollo, she was
accused of being a Christian and arrested. She was sent to prison, where she was flogged, doused with boiling tallow,
imprisoned with a lion, starved, tortured on the rack and thrown on a burning
pile. When she miraculously survived all of these trials, she was beheaded and
her body was buried in the catacombs.
A
church was built on the site of her home on the Aventine and dedicated to her
in 499 CE. Her relics were transferred
to a crypt under the altar. The original building dates back to 95 CE. After the martyrdom of Saint Prisca, the
building was taken over by the Emperor Trajan.
The massive columns are the only visible remains of the original
structure.
The
baptismal font is said to be the original one used by Saint Peter to baptize
Prisca who was just thirteen years of age when she was martyred. The church was damaged during the Sack of Rome
by the Normans in 1084 CE, but has been restored several times since.
Under
the church there is archeological evidence of a Mithraeum, a pagan temple
dedicated to the Mithras cult, and of a Christian house church. Along with the bull slaying scene that is
part of the Mithras cult, other paintings depict what appear to be liturgical
rituals. Original frescoes connected with the Mithras
cult were covered over with more elaborate paintings in the 3rd century. Santa Prisca presently serves
as the titular church of the Cardinal-priests of Rome.
