August 6, 258 is the date on which Pope Sixtus II (pope from August 30, 257-August 6, 258) is said to have been beheaded. The pope was executed by soldiers sent to a cemetery on the infamous Appian Way (where during the final years of the Roman Republic, the rival gangs of Clodius Pulcher and Milo had come to blows and where the slaves from Spartacus' rebellion wound up crucified) to apprehend Sixtus and his four deacons, as part of Emperor Valerian's persecution of Christians.

Valerian had issued an edict against Christians assembling in cemeteries. This same edict also ordered them to participate in the cults of the Roman gods. Valerian then issued another edict ordering the execution of Christian priests.

The execution of Sixtus II is described in a letter of Cyprian, who was executed soon after (September 14, 258). Cyprian was bishop of Carthage. Pope Sixtus II had helped reconcile the churches of Rome with those of North Africa and Asia Minor over the issue of re-baptizing of heretics.

• Persecutions in the Early Church
• Valerian
• This Day in Ancient History