Marcellinus of Carthage was a Christian martyr and saint who died in 413. He was secretary of state of the Western Roman Empire under Roman emperor Honorius and a close friend of Augustine of Hippo, as well as a correspondent of Saint Jerome. Saint Augustine dedicated the first books of his landmark The City of God to Marcellinus in 413.

Life

Flavius Marcellinus was born in Toledo in Spain, and had a brother, Apringius. He came to hold the rank of tribunus et notarius under Emperor Honorius. He was married to Anapsychia.

Donatist controversy

In Africa, the dispute between the Donatists and orthodox Christians was not only doctrinal but also involved regional and social tensions: Numidia against proconsular Africa, and proletarians against Roman landowners. In 405 an imperial decree declared the Donatists heretics and prescribed confiscation of their property. The fall of Stilicho in 408, led them to hope for a change in imperial policy; however, in 410 Marcellinus was given instructions to "abolish the new superstition". Marcellinus, as the emperor's representative, ruled that the Donatists were heretics and that they had to give up their churches and return to churches under the control of orthodox bishops and priests. According to John T. Noonan, the Donatists alleged that Marcellinus had been bribed as that was a stronger argument than that he was merely enforcing imperial policy.

The judgment was enforced by the Roman army with great severity. So bloody was the persecution of the Donatists that Augustine, who had been one of the leaders in condemning Donatism as a heresy, protested at their treatment.

Subsequently, some of the Donatists engaged in sporadic violence against orthodox priests. Marcellinus presided at the trials of those arrested. Augustine appealed for clemency both to Marcellinus and Marcellinus's brother Apringius, who was proconsul for Africa. Noonan views the fact that Augustine and Marcellinus remained close friends as suggesting that the bishop's petition was granted. on September 13. The following year, Marcellinus was exonerated by Emperor Honorius.

References

Sources

  • Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: a Biography (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000). See particularly the chapters 25–28 for Marcellinus' role in the Donatist controversy and his juridical murder after Heraclion's attempted coup.
  • Bargellini, Piero. "San Marcellino", Santi e beati