A disciple of Saint Justin Martyr, executed at Rome in 167 with Justin and five other companions for refusing to sacrifice to the gods.

Peon was a Christian layman, a disciple of Saint Justin Martyr, executed at Rome in the year 167 together with Justin and companions Chariton, Charitana, Evelpistus, Hierax, and Liberianus, after refusing before the city prefect to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods.

Quick Facts

• Died: 167, Rome, Italy
• Venerated as: Lay martyr
• Companions: Saint Justin, Chariton, Charitana, Evelpistus, Hierax, and Liberianus
• Canonization: no formal process recorded; venerated through ancient local cult

Who Was Saint Peon?

Peon was a member of the circle of students who gathered around Saint Justin Martyr, the great early Christian apologist, in Rome during the mid-second century. When Justin and his companions were brought before Rusticus, the prefect of Rome, on charges of practicing an illegal religion, Peon was among those questioned and, upon refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods, was condemned to death alongside his teacher.

Historical Setting

The trial of Justin and his companions before Rusticus is one of the best-documented early Christian martyrdoms, preserved in the Acts of Justin, which record the prefect’s direct interrogation of each defendant and their calm, individual professions of faith — an account that gives unusual detail for a mid-second-century martyrdom, even though it names Peon only briefly among the group.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Peon

Peon is remembered as one of the companions who stood with Justin at his trial, a group whose recorded interrogation shows ordinary students and disciples answering a Roman magistrate’s direct questions about their faith with the same steadiness as their famous teacher.

Canonization and Feast Day

No formal canonisation process is recorded for Peon. His veneration rests on the ancient and immemorial local cult of the Roman martyrs, preserved through the Church’s liturgical memory and the surviving Acts of Justin.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Peon’s willingness to answer for his faith in the same trial as his renowned teacher, without hesitating to let Justin speak for him, shows that discipleship in the early Church could mean sharing a teacher’s fate as well as his teaching.

A Prayer to Saint Peon

Saint Peon, disciple who followed Justin even to death, help us to take responsibility for our own faith rather than hiding behind the convictions of others, and to be willing to answer for it when we are asked. Amen.

Sources

• Acts of Justin and Companions
• Roman Martyrology, June 1
• New Advent, Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Justin Martyr”