2nd century
Saint Ariadne
Martyr from Phrygia.
Biography
Ariadne was a slave in the city of Prymnessus in Phrygia, serving one of its most powerful citizens, Tertullus. Under the emperors Hadrian and Antoninus, when she refused to take part in a pagan festival for the birthday of her master's son, she was reported to the local governor.
At a trial before the governor, Tertullus was acquitted while she was condemned; she was given three days' grace, which she used to flee into the surrounding mountains. According to tradition, as her pursuers closed in, the earth opened and took her in, saving her from capture.
The only source for her life is a short Greek hagiographic text from the 4th-5th century.