The Martyrs of Abitinae (or Abitinian Martyrs) were a group of 49 Christians found guilty, in 304, during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, of having illegally celebrated Sunday worship at Abitinae, a town in the Roman province of Africa.
[2] The plural form Abitinae is that which Saint Augustine of Hippo used when writing his De baptismo in 400 or 401.
[4] Though Fundanus, the local bishop in Abitinae, obeyed the edict and handed the scriptures of the church over to the authorities, some of the Christians continued to meet illegally under the priest Saturninus.
Emeritus, who declared that the Christians had met in his house, was asked why he had violated the emperor's command.
The emperor had declared the Eucharist illegal, but the prisoners had chosen to participate in it even at the risk of being tortured and sentenced to death.