 Ferreolus was apparently living a life of religious contemplation after 469 though there is no indication he ever took orders.He is the first clearly attested historical person bearing either the name Ferreolus or Tonantius - there are two much earlier martyrs of the name.However his father's marriage into the Syagrii and his own patrician ancestry suggest that the family was well known and powerful under a different name or names during the third and fourth centuries at least.