Basilla of Rome, also known as Basilissa and Babilla, was a saint and martyr of the 3rd century.
According to myth she was born into a Roman noble family and was a niece of the emperor Gallienus.
She was beheaded in 257 under the Roman emperor Valerian because she refused to marry Pompeius (or Pompey), a patrician and pagan described as "a man of equal rank"[2] to her, after she converted to Christianity.
[3][4][5] Her maid accused her of being a Christian, and Pompeius betrayed her to Valerian when "she remained steadfast in her refusal to marry him".
[4] Basilla was buried in the cemetery and catacombs of Saint Hermes on the Salarian Way near Rome.