Ilario Cao was a Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

n ecclesiastic active in Rome during the first thirty years of the eleventh century, often retrospectively called a Cardinal. He was born in Cagliari

Cagliari

Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...

. He urged Pope Benedict VIII

Pope Benedict VIII

Pope Benedict VIII , born Theophylactus, Pope from 1012 to 1024, of the noble family of the counts of Tusculum , descended from Theophylact, Count of Tusculum like his predecessor Pope Benedict VI .Benedict VIII was opposed by an antipope, Gregory...

 to organise an expedition to free his native land from Muslim pirates, who were establishing themselves in the south of the island, based out of Cagliari. A Pisan–Genoese expedition (1016)

Pisan–Genoese expeditions to Sardinia (1015–1016)

In 1015 and again in 1016 forces from the taifa of Denia, in the east of Muslim Spain , attacked Sardinia and attempted to establish control over it. In both these years joint expeditions from the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa repulsed the invaders and preserved Sardinia as a part of...

 resulted, which expelled the Muslims.

Ilario had two sons: Costantino (Constantinus) and Atanagio or Anastasio (Anastasius). The former built a hospital in Trastevere

Trastevere

Trastevere is rione XIII of Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber, south of Vatican City. Its name comes from the Latin trans Tiberim, meaning literally "beyond the Tiber". The correct pronunciation is "tras-TEH-ve-ray", with the accent on the second syllable. Its logo is a golden head of a lion on a...

 for poor Sardinians, which was destroyed in the later sack of Rome (1527)

Sack of Rome (1527)

The Sack of Rome on 6 May 1527 was a military event carried out by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Rome, then part of the Papal States...

. In 1068 Anastasio's son Benedetto erected a tombstone in the church of San Crisogono

San Crisogono

San Crisogono is a church in Rome dedicated to the martyr Saint Chrysogonus.-History:The church was one of the tituli, the first parish churches of Rome...

over his father's sepulchre bearing this inscription:

HIC SEPULTVS EST

CONSTANTINVS CAO CALARITANVS

CVM HILARO PATRE ET ANASTASIO FRATRE

QVI HOSPITALE PRO SARDINIAE PAVPERIBVS

FVNDAVIT

CVI AEDES ATTRIBVIT ET CENSVS APPLICVIT

HILARI PRECIBVS SARDINIAM

A SARACENIS

PAPA LIBERARI CVRAVIT

ANASTASIVS FVIT LITTERARVM PERITISSIMVS

PONTIFICIBVS CARVS ET PIETATE CLARVS

BENEDICTVS CAIVS ANASTASII FILIVS

POSVIT MLXVII