MARCELLIANS:
Ancyra (q.v.).
The followers of Marcellus of
MARCELLINISTS: A heretical sect of the latter part of the second century, consisting of the adherents of Marcellina, a pupil of Carpocrates (q.v.), whose system of Gnosticism she taught with much success in Rome while Anicetus was bishop (cf. Irenaeus, Haer., I., xxv. 6, ANF, i. 351).
MARCELLINUS, mar"cel-li'nus : Pope June 30, 296, probably to Oct. 25, 304. He is mentioned by Jerome, Nicephorus, and the Chronographon Syntomon; other early sources omit his name on account of the apostasy ascribed to him. Eusebius says that Marcellinus succeeded Caius in the twelfth year of Diocletian (a statement confirmed by the Catalogus Liberianus) , and adds (Hist, eccl., VII., xxxii. 1) that " persecution overtook him." While this implies more than that the persecution merely occurred during his bishopric, it does not necessarily denote that Marcellinus was a martyr, despite the statement of Theodoret (Hist, eccl., i. 2) that he distinguished himself during the persecution. The Liber pontificalia, on the authority of a lost Passio Marcellini, probably dating from the fifth century, expressly states that Marcellinus, a Roman by birth and the son of Projectus, became a thurificus in the persecution, but quickly repented of his apostasy and was beheaded. This is denied by Augustine, but the Donatists knew of the accu-
Marcellus March
THE NEW SCJi a r.HERZOG
sation and it is also mentioned in the acts of a Council of Sinuessa forged in 501. There seems to be no good reason to doubt that he actually lapsed for a t ime and later made atonement, but his martyrdom is improbable. The only detail known concerning his administration is that he enlarged the Roman catacombs. The Pseudo-Isidore contains two spurious decretals of this pope. (A. Harnack.)
Bibliographt: The sources are indicated in the text. Consult Liber poniificalis, ed. Mommsen in MGH, Gest. pont. Rom. i (1898), 41-42; and the critical sketch in DCB, Hi. 804-806, where the sources are adequately discussed.
MARCELLUS: The name of two popes. Marcellus I. : Pope 308-309. According to the Liber poniificalis a Roman by birth, he succeeded Marcellinus after a vacancy of four years (not seven as the Liber poniificalis and the Catalogus Liberianus give) due to the persecution. He was banished by Maxentius, not, however, as a Christian, but on account of the fierce quarrels which then vexed the Roman church as to the treatment of the lapsed, and induced the emperor to seek peace by the banishment of the heads of both parties. He seems not to have died in exile, and was apparently buried in the cemetery of Priscilla. Little else is known of him with any certainty. The assertion that he delivered the sacred books to the heathen and offered incense rests on a confusion with his predecessor arising from the similarity of their names. (A. Harnack.)
Bibliography: Liber pontificalia, ed. Mommsen in MGH, Gest. pont. Rom., i (1898), 43-44, ed. Duehesne, i. 165, Paris, 1886; B. Platina, Lives of the Popes, i. 64-65, London, n.d.; Bower, Popes, i. 40-41.
Marcellus II. (Marcello Cervini): Pope 1555; b. at Montefano, in the March of Ancona, May 6, 1501; d. at Rome May 1, 1555. He became a cardinal under Paul III. in 1539, and was papal legate during the opening period of the Council of Trent. He belonged to the party which strove for a reform of the Church on medieval principles. Great hopes were entertained of the results to follow from his pontificate, but it lasted only from Apr. 10 to May 1, and gave him no time to take any decisive steps. (A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: P. Polidoro, De vita, gestis et moribus Marcelli II., Rome, 1744 (depends upon a MS. life by the brother of Marcellus); Ranke, Popes, i. 212, iii. 153-155; Bower, Popes, iii. 318.
MARCELLUS: The name of five Christian martyrs besides Marcellus I., bishop of Rome (q.v.).
1. A certain Marcellus is said to have been martyred by the Prefect Priscus at Chalon-sur- Saone during the reign of Antoninus Pius, probably in 140. His festival is appointed for Sept. 4, but some throw doubt on the historicity of the legend.
2. Marcellus the Centurion, beheaded at Tingis (Tangier) on the birthday of the Emperor Diocletian, probably in 298, for refusing to celebrate the occasion with sacrifices.
3. A third Marcellus, born at Rome, was martyred, according to tradition, at Argenton-sur-Creuse (165 m. s.w. of Paris) during the reign of Aurelian. Fleeing from the persecutions of this emperor to the city where he was fated to die, he attracted the attention of the Prefect IToraclius by his miracles and
was scourged and roasted without being harmed. He was accordingly beheaded, while his friend Anastasius was scourged to death. Both these martyrs are commemorated on June 29.
4. Marcellus, Bishop of Apamea (the modern Kalaat al-Madik, 120 m. n.e. of Beirut) was burned to death during the reign of Theodosius the Great by a pagan mob roused by his destruction of their temples.
5. Marcellus, Bishop of Die, was born at Avignon, and died a prisoner of the Arians at Die (100 m. n. of Marseilles), early in the sixth century. He succeeded his brother as bishop and at his consecration a dove descended on his head. Refusing to accept Arian teachings, however, he was imprisoned until his death. His festival is appointed for Apr. 9. (G. UHLHORNf.)
MARCELLUS OF ANCYRA: Bishop of Ancyra (the modern Angora, 220 m. s.e. of Constantinople); b. probably in the latter part of the third century; d. about 374. He took part as bishop in the synod held at Ancyra apparently in 314, and Early Life; eleven years later was a somewhat in- Trinitarian conspicuous opponent of the Arians at Doctrine. Nicaea. In 335, however, he attracted attention by a book of which little is known, being extant only in fragments. His work was evoked primarily by a treatise of the Lucianistic Asterius, although it formed a general attack upon both the living and the dead leaders of the great Eusebian party. His polemic was aimed against the Eusebian and Arian doctrine of three divine hypostases, which had been received from the teachings of Origen. Perceiving the pagan basis of this doctrine, Marcellus opposed not only the doctrine of Christ's inferiority which it implied but also its polytheistic coloring. A rigid defender of monotheism, he acknowledged only one God, although he recognized a certain differentiation in him. Previous to the creation of the world God Doctrine had been simply a " monad," but with of the the formation of the universe the first Trinity, period of salvation was introduced by the " procession " of the Logos, which was eternal in God and has since remained the " operative activity " of God. In the incarnation of the Logos it became, in a somewhat stronger form, " divided from the Father by the weakness of the flesh," though it existed potentially in the Father not only throughout the period between the creation and the incarnation, but also afterwards, so that God and the Logos are not to be separated, and the eye of faith accordingly sees the Father in Christ (John xiv. 9). In like manner Marcellus regards the Spirit as contained within the Logos until Jesus breathed on his disciples and bade them receive the Holy Ghost (John xx. 22) , after which it proceeded operatively from the Father and the Son. Up to the time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, therefore, Marcellus taught binitarianism, but after this event " the monad was extended into a triad." Nevertheless, this " extension " did not produce a disruption of the "monad," which is "potentially indivisible," so that the Father, the Logos, and the Spirit are one God. After the parusia, when