Saint Agnes was a member of Roman nobility born 291 AD and raised in a Christian family. At the age of thirteen an arranged marriage between Agnes and the Prefect’s son was made. Being that she was only thirteen she refused the marriage. The Prefect Sempronius condemned her to be dragged naked through the street. As she was being dragged through the town she prayed. The men who tried to rape her were immediately struck blind, she was sentenced to death soon after. She was tehn tied to a wood stake and burned, but the bundle of wood would not burn, the flames parted away from her. The officer in charge of the execution then drew his sword and beheaded her. Her blood tehn poured on to the stadium floor where the other Christian soaked up the blood with cloths. Saint Agnes was buried beside the Via Nomentana in Rome. Days after her execution her sister, Saint Emerentiana, was found praying at her tomb; she was stoned to death after refusing to leave the place. She was later canonized. The daughter of Constantine 1, Saint Constance, was also found praying at her tomb but was not tried. She then later died of leprosy and was buried in the Mausoleo di Santa Constanza around the corner from the burial place of Saint Agnes.