Saints Felinus and Gratian(us) (sometimes Gratinian(us)) (d. 250 AD) are venerated as martyrs by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
The garbling of lives and cults may have been purposeful, consisting of a mere alteration of the names of persons and places so as to make the Acts of Secundianus serve for Felinus and Gratian, and thus in the interests of Perugia.
Felinus and Gratian have been identified as being identical to two other martyrs: Gratilianus and Felicissima, with "Felinus and Gratian" being a simple misreading for the names of two actual saints[4] Legend holds that the associated pair of martyrs, Carpophorus and Fidelis, were members of the Theban Legion, whose relics were transferred to Arona during a time of war between Milan and Como.
), discussing a group of martyrs of the Theban Legion killed in Lombard territory, states: sed horum duo corpora ad monasterium de Arona dati sunt.
[3] In 979, the Count of Seprio, Amitto (Amizzone), captain of Otto I, transferred Felinus' and Gratian's relics, with the permission of the bishop, to Arona, and built a monastery dedicated to them.
The city council, which had been pressured by the populace to bring back the relics, decreed that an annual festival should occur on that day.
The purpose of the festival was extended to include the celebration for the martyrs Felinus and Gratian, thereby unifying their veneration to that of Carpophorus and Fidelis.