A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

2. Jerome mentions an Hippolytus whom (according to the common but perhaps a corrupt reading) he designates a Roman senator, among the writers who defended Christianity against the Gentiles. There is much difference of opinion among critics as to the person meant. Some suppose that the bishop of the Portus Romanus (No. 1 ) is intended, and that Jerome has converted him from a bishop into a senator. Fabricius suggests that the senator may be one of two Hippolyti recorded in the Martyrologies as suffering in the persecution under Valerian. (Hieron. Epist. 83 (olim 84) ad Magnum ; Opera, vol. iv. pars ii. col. 656, ed. of Benedictin. Paris, fol. 1693, &c.; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. vii. p. 198.]