St. Sotor succeeded Anicetus as Pope in 166, and died a martyr in 175 under the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Caius, whose relics are preserved at the sanctuary of St. Silverster in Rome, governed the Church a century later and was martyred on April 22, 296. The popes of the first centuries suffered the heavy anxiety of the persecutions which continually threatened their flocks; the pontificate of Caius, however, was marked by a long period of peace, some ten years before the terrible persecution under Diocletian.