Marciana (also Marciana of Toledo) (died 9 January 304 in Caesarea, Mauretania Caesariensis)Shaw, p. 265 is venerated as a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and saint. The Latin account of her martyrdom was written possibly in the 5th century. Marciana's martydom occurred during the

Great Persecution The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...

. Historian Brent D. Shaw states that she led an "aggressive anti-idolatry campaign". Shaw states that her legend emphasized her

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

and commitment to ascetism, and contained "a new kind of hostility that was added to the old story of Christian-pagan hatreds". According to her story, Marciana was a devout young Christian woman "so filled with zeal for her new faith" that she left her family home to reside in Caesarea, approximately 80 miles east of their home and "immediately displayed an aggressive hostility to traditional forms of civic religion". She violently attacked a statue of the goddess Diana in the city, tearing the head off the statue and smashing its body to pieces. The local citizens had her arrested and brought her before the governor's tribunal for punishment. She was imprisoned in the local gladiatorial school, which Shaw states was "a brutal test"Shaw, p. 266 of her sexual purity. According to the narrative, the head of the local synagogue and his family insisted that Marciana be punished more harshly, by placing her in the local arena, where she impressed the locals with her nobility and heroism. They were ready to plead for her with the governor, but the Jews insisted that a bull attack her in the arena, which killed her. After her death, a leopard was sent in and it snapped her neck. The story goes on to say that a fire broke out in the synagogue, but repairs were never able to be accomplished. Shaw states that Marciana's story demonstrates the conflict between the Christian and Jewish communities in Caesarea during the period and was part of the "long and well-developed” anti-Jewish literature of the time".Shaw, p. 267 Shaw cautions, however, that narratives like this, that directly include Jews in the persecution of Christians in Africa during the 4th and 5th centuries, were "exceedingly rare".

Veneration

The

Mozarabic Mozarabic, also called Andalusi Romance, refers to the medieval Romance varieties spoken in the Iberian Peninsula in territories controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba and its successors. They were the common tongue for the majority of ...

office has a special

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

in her honor.Odden, Per Einer. "Den hellige Marciana av Mauretania (d. 303)", Den katolske kirke, December 15, 1997
/ref>

References

Works cited

* Shaw, Brent D. (2011). ''Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521127257. 303 deaths 4th-century Roman women 4th-century Christian martyrs Deaths due to bull attacks Deaths due to leopard attacks Executed ancient Roman women Female criminals Late Ancient Christian female saints People executed by the Roman Empire Saints from Mauretania Caesariensis Year of birth unknown 4th-century deaths {{saint-stub