Life and Martyrdom
Corinth, a major city of the Roman province of Achaia in Greece, was the setting of Adrian's confession. The sources place his death in the persecution of the emperor Decius, locating him among the martyrs of the pre-Nicene Church.
The synaxarion relates that Adrian was held in prison with other Christians, and that during a pagan festival they were brought out and commanded to offer sacrifice. Rather than comply, Adrian overturned the sacrificial fire. For this he was beaten with sticks, iron rods, and stones, and was then thrown into a fire, in which he died a martyr.