Pius is believed to have been born atAquileia, inNorthern Italy, during the late 1st century.[3] His father was anItalian[4] called Rufinus, and according to theLiber Pontificalis was also a native of Aquileia.[5] According to the 2nd-centuryMuratorian Canon[6] and theLiberian Catalogue,[7] Pius was the brother ofHermas, author of the text known asThe Shepherd of Hermas. Its author identifies himself as a former slave, a fact which has led to speculation that both Hermas and Pius werefreedmen. However Hermas' statement that he was a slave may just mean that he belonged to a low-ranking plebeian family.[8]
According toCatholic tradition, Pius I governed the church in the middle of the 2nd century during the reigns of the EmperorsAntoninus Pius andMarcus Aurelius.[3] He is held to be the ninth successor ofSaint Peter,[1] and to have decreed thatEaster should only be kept on a Sunday. Although he is said to have ordered the publication of theLiber Pontificalis,[3] in fact compilation of that document was not started before the beginning of the 6th century.[9] Pius is also said to have built one of the oldest churches in Rome,Santa Pudenziana.
Justin Martyr taughtChristian doctrine in Rome during the pontificate of Pius I but the account of Justin's martyrdom does not name Pius. Given the brevity of the account this is hardly remarkable.[10] ThehereticsValentinus,Cerdon, andMarcion visited Rome in Pius' time, and he is believed to haveexcommunicated both groups.[11]Catholic apologists see this as an argument for the primacy of theRoman See during the 2nd century.[3]
There is some conjecture that Pius was amartyr in Rome, a conjecture that entered earlier editions of theRoman Breviary. The study that had produced the1969 revision of theGeneral Roman Calendar stated that there were no grounds for his being considered a martyr,[12] and he is not presented as such in the currentRoman Martyrology.[13]
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