 According to the "Liber Pontificalis", he was a Greek born in Nicopolis in Epirus, Greece.His contemporary Hegesippus wrote that he was a deacon of the Roman Church under Pope Anicetus (c. 154–164), and remained so under Pope Soter, whom he succeeded around 174.He is also linked to some legends, one of them being credited with receiving a letter from "Lucius, King of Britain", but is now generally considered to be a pious forgery.