Bassa was the wife of a pagan priest. She raised her sons as believers. When they were denounced to the Proconsul as Christians by her husband, Bassa and her sons were tortured. Bassa was forced to watch as her three sons were beheaded before her for their faith. She was then imprisoned, drowned, burned alive, and through it all remained untouched. They took her to the temple of Zeus, she siezed the statue there, and smashed it to pieces. Bassa was tortured for some time afterward before being beheaded herself.