Marcellinus of Carthage

Marcellinus of Carthage was a high official of the Western Roman Empire under the emperor Honorius, a close friend of Blessed Augustine and a correspondent of Saint Jerome, who died a martyr in the year 413. He is commemorated on 13 September. Our sources show him venerated in the Roman Martyrology and show no Orthodox glorification, so he is a saint of the Western Church.

Life

Flavius Marcellinus was born in Toledo in Spain and had a brother, Apringius. He rose to the rank of tribune and notary under Honorius; he is described as a cultured and generous aristocrat, interested in theology. His interest in questions of faith led to a close friendship with Augustine, who wrote him several letters and dedicated several books to him: on the merits and remission of sins, on the baptism of infants, and the first three books of The City of God, written in 413. Jerome also wrote to him. His wife was named Anapsychia.

The Donatist dispute

In Africa the dispute between the Donatists and orthodox Christians was not only doctrinal but also involved regional and social tensions. In 405 an imperial decree declared the Donatists heretics and ordered the confiscation of their property. The fall of Stilicho in 408 gave them hope of a change in policy, but in 410 Marcellinus was instructed to abolish the new superstition. The orthodox bishops hoped the Donatists would be more open to reasoned debate and asked the emperor to call a conference.

Marcellinus was sent to Africa in 411 to preside over the conference of Carthage in June. In his summons to the parties he made no secret of the emperor's position. Bishops of both sides debated; the proceedings were transcribed and survive to this day. As the emperor's representative, Marcellinus ruled that the Donatists were heretics and had to give up their churches to those under orthodox bishops and priests. According to John T. Noonan, the Donatists alleged that Marcellinus had been bribed, since this was a stronger argument than that he was merely enforcing imperial policy.

The judgment was enforced by the Roman army with great severity. The persecution of the Donatists was so bloody that Augustine himself, one of those who had condemned Donatism as heresy, protested against their treatment. Later, some Donatists committed sporadic acts of violence against orthodox priests, and Marcellinus presided at the trials of those arrested. Augustine appealed for clemency to him and to his brother Apringius, proconsul of Africa; Noonan holds that their remaining close friends suggests that the petition was granted.

His end

In 413 the Donatists accused Marcellinus and Apringius of involvement in the rebellion of Heraclian. General Marinus, who had put down the rebellion and had Donatist sympathies, arrested the brothers and put them in prison. Although Augustine intervened for them with Caecilian, the presiding judge of the case, the two brothers were executed on 13 September. The following year Marcellinus was exonerated by the emperor Honorius.

Marcellinus was afterward entered in the Roman Martyrology. A statue of him adorns the spire above the south transept of the cathedral of Milan, and another stands on the southern half of Bernini's colonnade in Saint Peter's Square.