Acts of St Marcellus

tr. Owen, 1927

marcellus

I.

IN the city of Tingis,¹ during the administration of Fortunatus as governor, the time came for the birthday of the Emperor.² When all in that place were feasting at banquets and sacrificing, a certain Marcellus, one of the centurions of the Trajan legion, deeming those banquets to be heathen, cast away his soldier’s belt³ in front of the standards⁴ of the legion which were then in camp, and testified in a loud voice, saying: ‘I serve Jesus Christ the Eternal King.’ He also threw away his vine-switch and arms, and added: ‘Henceforward I cease to serve your Emperors, and I scorn to worship your gods of wood and stone,⁵ which are deaf and dumb idols. If such be the terms of service that men are forced to offer sacrifice to gods and Emperors, behold I cast away my vine-switch⁶ and belt, I renounce the standards, and refuse to serve.’

II.

The soldiers were dumbfounded at hearing such things; they laid hold on him, and reported the matter to Anastasius Fortunatus the commander of the legion,⁷ who ordered him to be thrown into prison. When the feasting was over, he gave orders, sitting in council,⁸ that the centurion Marcellus should be brought in. When Marcellus, one of the centurions of Asta,⁹ was brought in, Anastasius Fortunatus the governor said: ‘What did you mean by ungirding yourself in violation of military discipline, and casting away your belt and vine-switch?’

Marcellus answered: ‘On the 21st of July, in presence of the standards of your legion, when you celebrated the festival of the Emperor, I made answer openly and in a loud voice that I was a Christian and that I could not serve under this allegiance, but only under the allegiance of Jesus Christ the son of God the Father Almighty.’

Anastasius Fortunatus the governor said: ‘I cannot pass over your rash conduct, and therefore I will report this matter to the Emperors and Caesar.¹⁰ You yourself shall be referred unhurt to my lord, Aurelius Agricolan, Deputy for the Prefects of the Guard¹¹ (the shorthand-writer who took down the official proceedings was Caecilius).’¹²

III.

On the 30th of October at Tingis, Marcellus, one of the centurions of Asta, having been brought into court, it was officially reported: ‘Fortunatus the governor has referred Marcellus, a centurion, to your authority. There is in court a letter dealing with his case, which at your command I will read.’

Agricolan said: ‘Let it be read.’

The official report was as follows: ‘From Fortunatus to you, my lord, and so forth. This soldier, having cast away his soldier’s belt, and having testified that he was a Christian, spoke in the presence of all the people many blasphemous things against the gods and against Caesar. We have therefore sent him on to you, that you may order such action to be taken as your Eminence may ordain in regard to the same.’

IV.

After the letter had been read, Agricolan said: ‘Did you say these things as appear in the official report of the governor?’

Marcellus answered: ‘I did.’

Agricolan said: ‘Did you hold the rank of a centurion of the first class?’¹³

Marcellus answered: ‘I did.’

Agricolan said: ‘What madness possessed you to cast away the signs of your allegiance,¹⁴ and to speak as you did?’

Marcellus answered: ‘There is no madness in those who fear the Lord.’

Agricolan said: ‘Did you make each of these speeches contained in the official report of the governor?’

Marcellus answered: ‘I did.’

Agricolan said: ‘Did you cast away your arms?’

Marcellus answered: ‘I did. For it was not right for a Christian, who serves the Lord Christ, to serve the cares of the world.’

V.

Agricolan said: ‘The acts of Marcellus are such as must be visited with disciplinary punishment.’ And he pronounced sentence as follows: ‘Marcellus, who held the rank of centurion of the first class, having admitted that he has degraded himself by openly throwing off his allegiance, and having besides put on record,¹⁵ as appears in the official report of the governor, other insane expressions, it is our pleasure that he be put to death by the sword.’

When he was being led to execution, he said to Agricolan: ‘May God bless thee! For so ought a martyr to depart out of this world.’

And when he had said these words he was beheaded, dying for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is glorious for ever and ever. Amen.

Notes

Tingis: an ancient city on the north coast of Mauretania, capital of the Province of Mauretania, or Tingitana, now Tangier.
birthday of the Emperor: or possibly the anniversary of his succession to the Empire, which was celebrated every fifth year. The Emperor meant is Maximian (Herculius), who had charge of the West.
A soldier wore two belts: (1) the ‘cingulum’ proper, which went round the waist, (2) the ‘balteus’, which went over the left shoulder and under the right arm, to which the sword was attached. ‘Cingulum’, however, was used as a generic term for both, and the ‘balteus’ is meant here (v. ch. ii. ‘baltheum’), which was the distinctive mark of a soldier, of which he was stripped if degraded. Hence the action of S. Marcellus here.
in front of the standards: because he had originally taken his oath of allegiance upon the standards.
gods of wood and stone: cf. Rev. ix. 20.
vine-switch: cf. Mart. of S. Marinus, ii and note.
commander of the legion: ‘praesidi legionis’, the governor was head of the military as well as the civil organization of the province, hence he is here called ‘commander of the legion’. He held no military rank, and ‘praeses’ is not a military term.
sitting in council: ‘residens in consistorio’, or ‘in the council-chamber’, in any case not alone, but with assessors.
Asta: ‘Astasianis’, i. e. from Asta Regia, a city in the Province of Baetica in Southern Spain, near Cadiz, according to the Bollandist Acta SS. for October 30.
Emperors and Caesar: Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, Caesar (in the West) Constantius, (Galerius was Caesar in the East).
Deputy for the Prefects of the Guard. There were at this time three or four Prefecti Praetorio, whose power was second only to that of the Emperor. Under Augustus commanders of the Emperor’s bodyguard, they now had the superintendence of all departments of the State, and had also a court in which they decided cases.
‘Prosequente Caecilio acta officialia.’ This seems to be a note giving the name of the shorthand writer (v. p. 125, l. 4, note), who took down the proceedings in the court of Anastasius. There was an official, ‘ab actis’, who served as secretary to the Prefect of the Guard, and this might be the meaning here. But the word ‘prosequente’ ‘following’ ‘keeping up with’ the proceedings seems to make the translation in the text almost certain.
of the first class. The ‘centuriones ordinarii’ were according to Mommsen, the three leading centurions in the first cohort of the three divisions of the legion, Pilani, Principes, and Hastati, known as Primipilus, Princeps Prior, and Hastatus Prior, who ranked next after the Tribune, or Colonel, of the legion.
signs of your allegiance: ‘sacramenta’; in the singular it means the military oath, and so allegiance (as in chs. ii and v): in the plural here it seems to mean the symbols of allegiance, the vine-switch and belt.
put on record: ‘deposuit’; this must be used almost in the modern sense of ‘depose’, give ‘evidence’, though I can find no example of the use either in Forcellini or Ducange.