Page:Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature (1911).djvu/719

 apostasy, whereupon the emperor tauntingly observed, "Thy Galilean God will not heal thy sight." "I thank God," retorted Maris, "for depriving me of the power of beholding thy face" (Socr. iii. 12; Soz. v. 4; Tillem. vii. 332). He was living in the reign of Jovian (Philostorg. viii. 4; Tillem. viii. 764) and must be the Magnus of Chalcedon at the council of Antioch in 363 (Socr. iii. 25; Mansi, iii. 371, 372, 511). In an anonymous Life of Isaacius abbat of Constantinople (iii. 12 in Boll. Acta SS. Mai. vii. 254 ), Maris is said to have been present at the council of Constantinople in 381, a statement which may safely be rejected.

[C.H.]

Marius (1) Mercator, a writer, of whom, until the last quarter of the 17th cent., nothing was known except indirectly through the writings of St. Augustine, who in his work de Octo Quaestionibus Dulcitii, mentions him as his son, i.e. his friend or pupil, and who addressed to him a letter, containing a long passage identical with one in that work (Ep. 193, de Oct. Quaest. Dulc. qu. 3).

Probably a native of Africa, in Rome in 417 or 418, and thought by Baluze to have outlived the council of Chalcedon, 451. When Julian of Eclana was lecturing at Rome in 418 in favour of Pelagianism, Mercator replied to him, and sent his reply to St. Augustine, to whom not long afterwards Mercator forwarded a second treatise. Whether these two works exist or not is doubtful, but a treatise called Hypognosticon, or Hypermesticon, in six books, included in vol. x. of St. Augustine's works (ed. Migne, p. 1611), has been thought to be the one in question. Five of the books treat of Pelagianism, and the sixth of Predestination. The letter of Augustine, forwarded by Albinus, 418, expresses admiration of the learning of Marius and discusses points submitted for consideration.

The works of Marius Mercator, being chiefly translations, some of them from his own writings in Greek, appear in Migne in the following order, together with much matter more or less relevant to the principal subject. Part I. 1. Commonitorium super nomine Coelestii.—A memorial against the doctrines of Coelestius and Julian, disciples of Pelagius, written in Greek, and presented by Mercator to the emperor Theodosius II. and to the church of Constantinople, 429, translated by himself into Latin. It contains a history of Pelagianism and an account of its doctrines, and an appeal to Julian to abandon them. 2. A treatise, to which the Commonitorium is a preface, against Julian, entitled Subnotationes in verba Juliani, written after the death of Augustine, 430. 3. Translations of various works relating to Pelagianism, including the creed of Theodore of Mopsuestia, with a preface and a refutation of the creed by Mercator. Part II. Concerning the Nestorian heresy, including extracts from Theodore of Mopsuestia, with preface and refutations by Mercator. Extracts from Theodoret bp. of Cyrus, against Cyril, and from his letters, with remarks by Mercator.

Marius Mercator appears to have been a layman, but an able theologian. His learning, zeal, and ability entitle him to a respectable place among ecclesiastical writers. Migne, ''Patr. Lat.'' xlviii.; Ceillier, viii. 36.

[H.W.P.]

Marius (2), St., 3rd bp. of Lausanne, whither he is said to have transferred the see from Avenches, between Chilmegisilus and Magnerius (Gams, p. 283), or Arricus (Gall. Christ. xv. 329). He is better known as Marius Aventicensis, the chronicler. He was born at Autun, of parents of high rank. At about the age of 43 he was made bishop ( 575). He constructed a church at Paterniacum (Payerne) on his own property, and made various donations to it. In 585 he was present at the 2nd council of Mâcon (Mansi, ix. 958), and after an episcopate lasting 20 years and 8 months died on the last day of 596, in his 64th year. At the council of Mâcon, in 585, he signed himself "episcopus ecclesiae Aventicae." The authors of the Gallia Christiana publish a metrical epitaph of unknown date, which represents him as fabricating with his own hands the sacred vessels for his church and ploughing his own glebe. His Chronicon is a work of some historical importance. Though extremely brief it furnishes information with reference to Burgundy and Switzerland during the period embraced by it which is found nowhere else, and serves to correct the bias of Gregory of Tours against the Arians of Burgundy. It takes up the chronicle of Prosper of Aquitaine in 455 and carries it to 581, continuing his method of marking the years by consulates, and commencing the indictions with 523. An anonymous author has carried it to 623. For an account and criticism of it see ''Hist. Litt.'' iii. 401; Cave, i. 538; Ceillier, xi. 399, 400; Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen, i. 47; Richter, Annalen, p. 37 and refs. there given. It is in Bouquet, Recueil, ii. 12–19, and Migne, ''Patr. Lat.'' lxxii. 791–802.

[S.A.B.]

Martinianus (1), legendary martyr with at Rome. According to the Acts of L, these were the two soldiers into whose charge Peter had been given. They were converted by him in prison, and for their baptism, Peter, by making the sign of the cross, caused a fountain, still shewn in the Mamertine prison, miraculously to spring from the rock. After their baptism the two soldiers give Peter as much liberty as he desires, and when news comes that the prefect Agrippa is about to put him to death, earnestly urge him to withdraw. Peter at first complies, but returns to custody in consequence of the well-known vision Domine quo vadis. According to a notice in Praedestinatus (Haer. 86), which has the air of being more historical than most of the stories of that author, their cult was already in vogue in the reign of the pretender Maximus, i.e. before the end of the 4th cent. According to this story, Montanists got temporary possession of their relics and claimed them as belonging to their sect. Lipsius conjectures that their cult began in the episcopate of Damasus, when great exertions were made to revive the memory of the saints of the Roman church. To this period may be referred the Acts of Processus and Martinianus (Bolland. AA. SS. July i. 303). They are clearly later than Constantine, containing mention of offices which did not exist till his time. They are evidently based on the