San Sisto Vecchio honors Pope Sixtus II, who was martyred in 258 in the same persecution and orders which brought about the death of St. Laurence; Sixtus was the Pope, and Laurence was one of his deacons. He was laid to rest in the catacombs outside of Rome, and translated here to this church sometime in the 500s. To be clear, there is really no question of the veracity of the relics; shortly after his death his resting place was memorialized with a plaque, allowing for ea