Accounts of his martyrdom credit him with being among the "cephalophores" ("head-carriers") like Saint Denis. Nicasius was said to have been reciting Psalm 119: he was then decapitated as he reached the verse "Adhaesit pavimento anima mea" ("My soul is attached unto dust") and then continued reciting "Vivifica me Domine secundum verbum tuum" ("Revive me, Lord, with your words") even after his head had fallen to the ground. He was sometimes depicted in art walking with the upper part of his head and its miter in his hand.