MARCIA. - Favorite of the emperor Commodus from 183, after having been the concubine of Ummidius Quadratus, nephew of Marcus Aurelius. Cassius Dio (Historia romana, LXXII, 4) left written: "Of M. it is related that she had a lively sympathy for the Christians and did them great good, being all-powerful over the mind of Commodus."
This testimony is confirmed by the Philosophumena of Hippolytus (9, 12), which recount an act of benevolence of M. in favor of the Christians of Rome detained at forced labor in Sardinia for the sake of their faith, to whom she had freedom granted by order of Commodus.
The fact, narrated by a contemporary, reveals the attitude of M. toward the Christians. From this it has been wished to conclude that she was a Christian, but Cassius Dio merely alludes to the sympathy that she had for the Christians and Hippolytus calls her "lover of God," thus indicating that she protected the Christians, as Poppaea, favorite of Nero, protected the Jews (cf. Josephus, Antiq. Jud., XX, 8, 2). The education received from Hyacinthus, certainly a Christian and perhaps a priest, while inspiring in her a strong attraction for the Christian religion, had not given her the spirit to practice its commandments. There is no doubt that M. openly protected the Christians and that she succeeded in limiting not a little the persecution against them, so that Eusebius (Hist. eccl., V, 21) could write that under Commodus the Church had peace and tranquility and in Rome especially Christianity was able to spread even among the upper social classes.
Bibliography3 worksC. Pasciucco, M. concubina di Commodo, S. Maria Capua Vetere 1905; F. Bassani, Commodo e M., Venezia 1905; P. von Rohden, Commodus, in Pauly
BIBL.: C. Pasciucco, M. concubina di Commodo, S. Maria Capua Vetere 1905; F. Bassani, Commodo e M., Venezia 1905; P. von Rohden, Commodus, in Pauly-Wissowa, II, coll. 2464-81.
Pesci, Benedetto. “Marcia.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, coll. 33–34. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/marcia.
MLA
Pesci, Benedetto. “Marcia.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, coll. 33–34. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/marcia.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec8_marcia,
author = {Pesci, Benedetto},
title = {Marcia},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VIII},
pages = {33--34},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/marcia}
}
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