Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/725

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MABIUS


672


ISABX


which had been built at his expense and through his efforts. After his death he was venerated in the Dio- cese of Lausanne as a saint, and his feast was cele- brated on 9 or 12 Februarv. The church of St. Thyr- sius received at an early date the name of St. Marius. A chronicle of his is still preserved, and purports to be a continuation of the chronicle of Prosper Tiro, or rather of the "Chronicon Imperiale". It extends from 455 to 581, and, although consisting only of dry, annahstic notes, it is valuable for Burgundian ana Franconian history, especially for the second half of the sixth centur}'. This explains the fact that, not- withstanding its brevity, it nas been frequently pub- lished — first by Chifflct in Andr^ Duchesne's "His- torisB Francorum Scriptores", I (1636), 210-214; again by Migne in P. L., LXXII, 793-802, and finaUy by Mommsen in '*Mon. Germ., Auctores antiqui , XI (1893). 232-9.

Arndt, Bischof Marina von Aventicum. Sein Leben u. seine Chronik (Leipzig. 1875): Mommrkn in his edition, PrcBfatio, 227-31; FoTTHAST, Bibl. hist. med. ccvi, I (Berlin. 1896). 667.

Patkicius Schlager.

MariuB Mazimus, Lucius Pehpktuus Aureli- ANUS, Roman historian, lived c. 165-230. No con- nected account of his life exists, but he is frequently quoted as an authority in the first half of the *' Historia Augusta", and Valesuis and Borghesi have identified him (Fragm. hist. Rom., p. xxv sq.) with the prefect of the same nagT»**eientioncd both in the inscriptions and by Dion ^a&m^According to these he served in the Roman army^W^ved praetorian rank at Rome, took part as conmiandcr in the campaigns in Gaul, Belgium, Germany, and Cccle-Syria, and was employed in high offices of administration. During the reign of the Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211) he was made consul for the first time short) v after 197, and in 217 Macrinus appointed him prefect. In the reign of Alexander Severus (222-235) he was, in 223, appointed consul for the second time and governed the Provinces of Asia and Africa as proconsul, thesg offices being due to the special favour of the emperor. Later, Marius Maximus devoted himself to historical writing and wTote biographies of the emjxjrors from Nerva (96-98) to Ileliogabalus (d. 222). As the biographies stop with Ileliogabalus, althouch Maximus was inti- mately connected with Alexander Severus, it is sup- posed that he did not survive the latter emperor dur- ing whose reign, it is thought, his work was prol^ably written. The history of the earlier emperors is not extant, but it can be inferred from the fragments pre- served that he adopted the method and views of Sue- tonius of whose biographies of the emperors his work was a continuation. His description of the lives and acts of the emperors is influenced by his friendliness towards the senate. His style is diffuse and detailed. Often he introduces personal occurrences, and offers official instruments and records of the senate as docu- mentary proof. The biographies of Marius Maxi- mus were greatly admired by his contemporaries and were especially read by the Roman senators. Some of the biographies were continued and enkrged by other writers, ^lius Junius Cordus WTote supplementary lives of the usurpers, Ca?sar3, and coadjutor-emperors,

up to Alexander Severus.

Herrmann, Scriptores hist. Aug. (Leipzig. 1865); Idem, Die geschichUiche Litemtur iiber die rornische Kaiserzeit bis Tfieoilo~ aius, II (LeipziR, 1897); Plew, Marius Maximus als direkte und indirckte quelle d. scriptorcji hist. Auo. (1878); MCller, Der Geachichtschreiber Marius Maximus in Bi' dinger, Untersuch- ungen zur riimischen KaisertQsch, III; Tecffel, Gesch. demim, Literatur, new ed. Schwabs (Leipzig, 1890).

Karl Hoeder.

Marius Mercator, ecclesiastical writer, b. prolm- bly in Northern Africa alwut 390; d. shortly after 451. In 417 or 418 he was in Rome where he wrote two anti- Pelagian treatises, which he suhmitt^ni to St. Augus- tine (Ep. ad M. M., no. 193). From 429 till about 448 he was in Constantinople. His works, mostly transla-


tions ftnd compilations of excerpta from heretical a well as orthodox Greek theological writers, were edited by Gamier (Paris, 1673), reprinted in Migne (P. L, XI.VIII, Paris, 1846). They were also edited Ij Baluze (Paris, 1684), reprinted with corrections m Galland , '^Bibliotheca veterum Patnim", VIII (Vot- ice, 1772), 613-738. His treatises " Commonitorium super nomuie Cselestii", and "Commonitoriumadvo^ sus hseresim Pelagii et Cffilestii vel <etiam scripts Juliani are against the Pelagians. The former Ob Mi^e, loc. cit., 63-108) effected the expulsioo of Julian of Eclanuin and Cslestius from Constantinopk and their condemnation at Ephesus in 431. The latter is in Migne, loc. cit., 109-172. Against the Nestoriiu he WTote **Epistola de discrimine inter hseresim Kes- torii et dogmata Pauli Samosateni, £bioni8, Photisi atque Marcelli" (Mi^e, loc. cit., 773) and "Nestoro blasphemiarum capitula XII '* (Migne, loc. cit., 907- 932). Among his translations are extracts from Cyii of Alexandria, Nestorius, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret, Pelaeius, and' others.

Bardeniiewer, ratrologie, tr. Shahan (FreiburK im Br Md St. Louis. 1908), .508-10; Kiiin. Patrolopie (Padertx>m, 190S), 356-«; Koch in Theologiscfie QuartalscJinft, LXXXI (TabiBia» 1899), 396-433; Puillott in Dirt. ChrifJ. Biog., a. v.; LoSn^ Nestoriana (Halle, 1905), 34 sq., 120 sq. The second part of tk lost mentioned work contains the Nestorian fragments that ovi their preservation to Marius M creator.

MiCHABL On.

Marius Victorinus. See Victorinus.

Mark (Mdp/cos, Maiicus), Saint and SvANOXiiBr.

— It is assumed in this article that the individual re- ferred to in Acts as John Mark (xii, 12, 25; xv, 37), John (xiii, 5, 13), Mark (xv, 39), is identical with the Mark mentioned by St. Paul (Col., iv, 10; II Tim iv, 11; Philcm., 24) and by St. Peter (1 Peter, v,*13). Their identity is not questioned by any ancient writer of note, while it is strongly suggested, on the one hand by the fact that Mark of the PauUne Epistles was the cousin (6 di^i6s) of Barnabas (Col., iv, 10), to whom Mark of Acts seems to have been bound by some special tie (Acts, xv, 37, 39) ; on the other by the prob- auility that the Mark, whom St. Peter calls his son (I Peter, v, 13), is no other than the son of Mary, the Apostle's old friend in Jerusalem (Acts, xii, 12)/ To the Jewish name John was added the Roman pre- nomen Marcus, and by the latter he was commonly known to the readers of Acts (xv, 37, xAr xoXo^iw Mdp/cov) and of the Epistles. Mark's mother was a prominent member of the infant Church at Jerusalem; it was to her house that Peter turned on his release from prison; the house was approached by a poidi (TTuXtiv), there was a slave girl (iraiStaKrj)^ probabiythe portress, to open tlie door, and the house was a meel- mg-place for the brethren, many*' of whom were praying there the night St. Peter arrived from nrison (Acts, xii, 12-13). ^

When, on the occasion of the famine of a. d. 45-46, Barnabas and Saul had completed their ministration in Jerusalem, they took Mark with them on their re- turn to Antioch (Acts, xii, 23). Not long after when they started on St. Paul'sfirst Apostolic journey they had Mark with them as some sort of assi.stant (^lyp/r^ Acts, xiii, 5) ; l)ut the vagueness and variety of mean- ing of the (ireek term makes it uncertain in what pre- cise capacity he acted. Neitlier selected by the Holy Spirit nor delegated by the Church of Antioch as were Barnabas and Saul (Acts, xiii, 2-4), he was probaUy taken by the Apostles as one who could be of general help. The context of Acts, xiii, 5, sugpgests that he helped even in preaching the Word. When Paul and Bama})as resolved to push on from Perga into central Asia Minor, Mark depart erl from them, if indeed he had not already done so at Paphos, and returned to Jenisalem (Acts, xiii, 13). What his reasons were for turning back, we cannot say with certainty; Acts xv 38, seems to suggest that he feared the toil. At'sny rate, the incident was not forgotten by St. Paul who