Agnes was born around 290. At the age of twelve(topos from ancient literature, symbolizing a boundary between childhood and adulthood), she rejected the advances of the so of Rome who eagerly courts her.
The young man was sick with love. When his father knows the reason, he summoned Agnes who said to him that she was a Christian and promise to Jesus-Christ. The prefect orders her to sacrifice to Roman gods otherwise she will be locked up in a brothel. Refusing to give in to her, Agnes is stripped of her clothes and driven naked through the city to the place of prostitution, but her hair miraculously begins to grow, covering her entire body.
Arrived in the brothel, an angel appears and enveloping her of dazzling light, and the brothel became a place of prayer. As the son of prefect visits her, determined to conquer her, a demon strangled him and he died. Out of anger, the prefect ordered that Agnes was burned in a public place like a witch, but the fire spared the girls and destroyed the executioners; finally, Agnes's throat had been cut. Before the executioner struck, Agnes would have said to him: " He who first chose me, it is he who will receive me"
On this point, the Golden Legend diverges and tells that the governor wants Agnes to prove that she did not use magic in resurrecting her son, which she does by prayer; the priests then have her arrested, and the governor, who would have liked to free her but fears proscription, appoints a substitute to judge her. The latter had her burned, but the fire spared her and touched the unruly people who stood around her. The substitute then had her throat slit.
Her martyrdom would have taken place around 304 or 305 during Diocletian's persecution, but historians have not been able to establish the place, the date of her death (set for January 21, 304 or January 21, 305 according to Christian tradition) and the mode of martyrdom.
His main attributes are a white lamb, the palm of martyrdom, an olive branch or crown, a sword or dagger and a burning pyre. Its first name comes from the Greek Agnos which means chaste or pure.