MARATONIUS. - Bishop of Nicomedia, who lived in the 4th century, raised to that see by Macedonius of Constantinople (342-60) and probably deposed by the Acacian party together with him and with others of the Homoiousian party. He first followed a military career, attached to the statistical office of the praetorian prefecture of Constantinople. Afterwards he became a deacon of Constantinople and devoted himself zealously to the care of the sick and the poor in the hospices. Under the influence of Eustathius of Sebaste, he embraced the monastic life and founded in Constantinople a monastery of monks that still existed around the middle of the 5th century.
M. was recognized by all as a good and pious man; but his Homoiousian opinions and his being loyal to Macedonius meant that, once made bishop of Nicomedia, he became a bitter persecutor of the orthodox. After the deposition and death of Macedonius, M., assisting him with his work, with money and with the prestige of his asceticism, had such influence in the "Macedonian" party that his followers were also called "Marathonians."
Historians, who from 380 onward make Macedonius the heresiarch of the Pneumatomachi and interpret in this sense the designation "Macedonians" commonly given to them around this time, also present, more or less clearly, M. as the second head of this heresy and seem to interpret in a similar way the designation "Marathonians" given in Constantinople to the "Macedonians." But there is no proof that M., any more than Macedonius himself, dealt explicitly with the question of the Holy Spirit. When, not long after 366, the Pneumatomachian opinions were certainly accepted by the colleagues of his group, such as Eustathius of Sebaste and Eleusius of Cyzicus (v. PNEUMATOMACHI), M. no longer appears in history.
Bibliography4 works
Cipriano Vagaggini