MARCELLUS and APULEIUS, saints, martyrs. — The information concerning them is confused and intricate.
M. is certainly a martyr of Capua, whereas A. is unknown to the ancient hagiographical sources. The former is commemorated in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on 7 Oct., and his image was reproduced in the museums of the church of S. Priscus at Capua. On the same date both are remembered in the Gelasian Sacramentary and in a 7th-century calendar. The notice in the Roman Martyrology derives from that of Ado, who confused these two saints with the homonyms in the *Passio* of Nereus and Achilleus.
The *Passio Marcelli et Apuleii*, of which three different versions exist, has conflated martyrs of the same name from Rome, Tangier, and Cáscara (Mesopotamia), creating great confusion. According to the oldest version, M. was a centurion who feared God and devoted himself to good works. During the persecution of Tiberius, he was sent by the Emperor—whose former tutor he had been—to Apulia, accompanied by his servant A. Upon arriving at Capua, however, he was detained by the governor Dracontius. During the festivities in honour of the Emperor, M. abandoned the army and declared himself a Christian. The governor then sent him to the praetorian prefect Aurelian, who had him beheaded. A., wishing to follow his master’s example, suffered the same fate.