gardens of Nero. He was buried at the foot of the hill, the date being June
29, 67 AD.²
St. Peter died a glorious death, fulfilling the wonderful prophesy of Christ
spoken to him decades earlier when he was still a young and insignificant
Galilean:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded
yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you
will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry
you where you do not wish to go. (This he said to show by what
death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him,
‘Follow me.’” (St. John 21, 18-19).
The historic evidence testifying to St. Peter’s martyrdom in Rome is
formidable, and includes testimonies from the following Fathers of the
Church:
(i)
St. Irenaeus (C. 180 AD) refers to the Church in Rome as “the
greatest and most ancient Church known to all, founded and
organized at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and
Paul” (Against Heresies 3,3,2);
(ii)
Tertullian (200 AD) speaks of St. Peter ordaining St. Clement in
Rome (Demurrer Against the Heretics 32) and of St. Peter
baptizing in the Tiber River (On Baptism 4);
(iii)
St. Clement of Alexandria (Ante 217 AD) speaks of St. Peter
proclaiming the word of God publicly in Rome (In Eusebius,
Ecclesiastical History 6, 14);
(iv)
Caius (214 AD) referred to Pope Victor as thirteenth bishop of
Rome after St. Peter (In Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5, 28);
2
It is of great significance that the bones declared to be those of St. Peter by Pope
Paul VI on June 29, 1968, do not include any foot bones, leading to the hypothesis
that the Romans severed his feet at the ankles when bringing him down from the
cross.
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