Marcellinus, Priest

MARCELLINO, PRETE. - Together with Faustino, he wrote the so-called Libellus precum. Its original title is De confessione verae fidei, addressed (383–84) to the emperors Valentiniano II, Teodosio, and Arcadio, in protest against the measures taken against the adherents of Lucifero di Cagliari.

This writing is the principal source for the history of the case. Its publication was successful. In a rescript of the year 384, Teodosio declared himself opposed to the measures against the companions of Gregorio di Elvira and Eracida di Ossirino (PL 13, 107 sg.). Nothing precise is known about M.’s contribution to the composition of this writing. Isidoro di Siviglia (De vir. ill., 14) mentions only M. as its author, but Faustino is also known from other writings: Adversus arianus et Macedonianos (Gennadio, De vir. ill., 16), identical with De fide adversus arianus (PL 13, 37-80), and from the Fides Theodosio imperatori oblata (ibid., 79-80). Thus M.’s part in the compilation of the Liber precum, which moreover is indebted to Gregorio di Elvira, remains uncertain.

BIBL.: The best edition of the Liber precum is found in the Collectio Avellana (of the letters of the pontiffs and emperors), edited by O. Günther (CSEL, 35), Vienna 1895, pp. 5-44. On Faustino, V. Wilmart, La tradition des opuscules dogmatiques de Poebadius, Gregorius Illiberitanus, Faustinus, ibid. 1908. On the attribution of the Liber precum by Isidoro to M. V. G., V. Dzialowski, Isidor und Ildefons als Literaturhistoriker, Münster in V, 1898, p. 22 ff. Erik Peterson
Cite this article

“MARCELLINO, PRETE.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII (1952), p. 32. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/marcellino-prete.