Cyprian

Cyprian (c. 200–258 CE) was probably born in North Africa, traditionally identified with Carthage, though no primary source explicitly names his birthplace. He converted to Christianity around 245–246 and was elected bishop of Carthage within a few years of his baptism. He led the North African church through the Decian and Valerian persecutions, corresponding extensively with Rome and other sees while forging a theology of episcopal unity in his treatise On the Unity of the Church. He was arrested under the Valerian edict of 257, exiled to Curubis by the proconsul Aspasius Paternus, recalled to Carthage, tried by the proconsul Galerius Maximus, and beheaded at the Villa Sexti near Carthage on 14 September 258 — the first bishop of Carthage to die a martyr.