Marculus of Thamugadi
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Nova Petra - Numidia
Marculus of Thamugadi | |
|---|---|
 Basilica of Vegesela 1933 | |
| Bishop of Thamugadi | |
| Hometown | Thamugadi |
| Died | November 29, 347 Nova Petra - Numidia |
| Cause of death | Thrown from a cliff |
| Honored in | Donatism |
| Major shrine | Ksar El Kelb - Tebessa (Vegesela) |
| Influenced | Passio Benedicti Martyris Marculi |
Marculus of Thamugadi, or simply Marculus, was a bishop and Christian martyr from Thamugadi in the Roman province of Numidia, venerated by the 4th-century North African Donatist Church.
Donatism flourished in North Africa for over 20 years, popular among the Berbers, with Thamagudi and Bagai emerging as centers of the movement. In 346 CE, the founder of the Donatist Church, Donatus Magnus, asked Roman Emperor Constans for recognition. Constans, before answering Donatus, sent two imperial notaries named Paul and Macarius to Numidia to investigate the situation. Their subsequent effort to enforce church unity in North Africa by suppressing the Donatist cult was known as the Macarian campaign. Paul and Macarius openly favored the Catholic faction and faced hostility from the majority-Donatist locals. The legates called for military assistance to pacify the region, and Bishop Donatus of Bagai rallied the local circumcellion militias in defense. Donatus of Bagai and his men were massacred by the Roman army in 347 CE. On June 29 of that year, a group of Donatist bishops, headed by Bishop Marculus, met with Paul and Macarius at Vegesela, Numidia, to protest the massacre. The bishops were taken into custody; most of them were tortured but were eventually released. Marculus was retained for several months and finally executed at Nova Petra on 29 November 347 CE.[1] According to the "Passio Marculi", Marculus was killed by being thrown from a cliff by Roman soldiers, a unique method of execution among extant Donatist martyrologies.[2] After his death, Marculus was venerated as a martyr in the Donatist Church, which for several more centuries.