Marcellus (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Μάρκελλος; died 366) was an officer of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, supporter of usurper

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...

and briefly an usurper himself. There are two versions of the history of his usurpation, the first told by

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

, a contemporary historian, the second exposed by

Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alch ...

, a historian of the beginning of the 6th century.

Ammianus Marcellinus' version

underlines the fact that Marcellus was a relative of

(a member of the

Constantinian dynasty The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus (died 306) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member, Constantine the Great, who became the sole rule ...

). In 365 Procopius rebelled against emperor

Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...

, taking the purple; Marcellus became his ''protector'' and was entrusted with the defence of

Nicaea Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

. When, in 366, Procopius was killed, Marcellus killed Serenianus, a cruel general of Valens' who had been captured by Procopius at

Cyzicus Cyzicus ( ; ; ) was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peninsula (the classical Arctonnesus), a tombolo which is said to have or ...

, and then conquered

Chalcedon Chalcedon (; ; sometimes transliterated as ) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, Turkey. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the city of Ist ...

. Procopius had based his usurpation on his bond with the

and on the support of some barbaric peoples; Marcellus tried to exploit his own bond to Procopius and to consolidate an alliance with Gothic tribes. He proclaimed himself emperor, but his rule was short. Valens' ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...

'', Equitius, learned of Procopius' death and attacked Marcellus, capturing him. After a few days, Marcellus and some of his supporters were put to death.

Zosimus' version

According to

, Marcellus was sent by

from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

into

Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...

, to counter the cavalry unit under Serenianus' command and loyal to

. Serenianus occupied

, but Marcellus put the city under siege and took it, forcing Serenianus to flee; after a short pursuit in

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

, Marcellus killed him. After Procopius' death, Valens captured Marcellus. According to Zosimus and John of Antioch, Marcellus was suspected of planning a usurpation, as he had been found with the

regalia Regalia ( ) is the set of emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royal status, as well as rights, prerogatives and privileges enjoyed by a sovereign, regardless of title. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and ...

of Procopius; thus Valens ordered his death and that of his family and his supporters.

Bibliography

;Primary sources *

, ''Res Gestae'', xxvi.10.1—5. * John of Antioch, fr. 184.2 *

, ''New History'', iv.6.3—5, iv.8.3—4. ;Secondary sources * Banchich, Thomas
"Marcellus (366 A.D.)"
''De Imperatoribus Romanis'' * Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin,

John Robert Martindale John Robert Martindale (born 1935) is a British historian specializing in the later Roman and Byzantine empires. Martindale's major publications are his ''magnum opus'', the ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', begun by A. H. M. Jones an ...

, John Morris, '' The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, , p. 551. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcellus 4th-century Roman usurpers 366 deaths Ancient Roman generals Year of birth unknown People executed by the Roman Empire Executed ancient Roman people