Saints Archelais, Thecla, and Susanna were Christian virgins of the Romagna region in Northern Italy.
During the Diocletianic Persecution in the 3rd century, the virgins disguised themselves as men, cut their hair, and escaped to a remote area in Campagna in Southern Italy.
[1][2] They continue to live as ascetics, practicing fasting and prayer, using their God-given gift of healing, treating the local inhabitants, and converting many pagans to Christianity.
He threatened Archelais with torture if she did not offer sacrifice to idols, and when she refused, he ordered her "to be torn apart by hungry lions, but the beasts meekly lay at her feet".
[2] Archelais was tortured; first she was suspended from a tree, and then she was raked with iron utensils and hot tar was poured on her wounds.