[2] This text records the fact that Eusebius (d. 371 AD) wished to be buried near the relics of Theonestus, which lay outside of the city walls of Vercelli.

[2] When this basilica was progressively demolished in the 16th century, the sepulchers of Eusebius and Theonestus are purported to have been discovered.

[2] A cruciform inscription, now lost, read S. MARTIR THEONESTUS, and was judged to date from the 4th century.

[2] Theonestus' relics are now situated in the cathedral of Vercelli, in a niche over the altar of the Madonna dello Schiaffo.

[2] However, as Damiano Pomi has written, "paradoxically the scarce and basic details concerning Theonestus, guarantee, rather than wild and unreliable legends, the authenticity of his cultus.