E00399: The Liber Pontificalis, written in Latin in Rome in the 530s, and re-edited before 546, in its account of *Marcellus (bishop and martyr of Rome, ob. c. 307, S00529) attributes to him the establishment of 26 tituli (or 'parochial' churches) in Rome, for the administration of baptism, penitence, and the burial of martyrs, and his burial in the cemetery of Priscilla on the via Salaria outside the city, on 16 January. The second edition adds an account of the foundation and dedication of Marcellus' titulus church in the city, and of his suffering and death under persecution.

Liber Pontificalis 31

First edition (as reconstructed by Duchesne)

Marcellus, natione Romanus, ex patre Marcello, sedit ann. V. m. VII d. XXI. Fuit autem temporibus Maxenti a consulatu Maxentio IIII et Maximo usque post consulatu. Hic fecit cimiterio via Salaria et XXV titulos in [urbe] Roma constituit, quasi diocesis propter baptismum et penitentiam et sepulturas martyrum... Qui etiam sepultus est in cimiterio Priscillae, via Salaria, XVII kal. febr.

'Marcellus, born in Rome, son of Marcellus, held the see 5 years 7 months 21 days. He was bishop in the time of Maxentius from the 4th consulship of Maxentius and that of Maximus until the post-consulship [AD 309]. 2. He built a cemetery on the via Salaria, and organised the 25 tituli within Rome as dioceses for the baptism and repentance of many converts from paganism, and for the burial of martyrs... He is buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on the via Salaria on 16 January.'


Second edition

Marcellus, natione Romanus, ex patre Benedicto, de regione Via Lata, sedit ann. V. m. VII d. XXI. Fuit autem temporibus Maxenti a consulatu Maxentio IIII et Maximo usque post consulatum. Hic fecit cymiterium via Salaria et XXV titulos in [urbe] Roma constituit, quasi diocesis propter baptismum et penitentiam multorum qui convertebantur ex paganis et sepulturas martyrum.

'Marcellus, born in Rome, son of Benedict, from the region of the via Lata, held the see 5 years 7 months 21 days. He was bishop in the time of Maxentius from the 4th consulship of Maxentius and that of Maximus until the post-consulship [309]. 2. He built the cemetery on the via Salaria, and organised the 25 tituli within Rome as dioceses for the baptism and repentance of many converts from paganism, and for the burial of martyrs.

There follows an account of his arrest and imprisonment at the orders of Maxentius, and then of his temporary deliverance.

Matrona quaedam, nomine Lucina, vidua, quae fecerat cum viro suo Marco annos XV et in viduitate sua habuit annos XVIIII, suscepit beatum virum; quae domum suam nomine beati Marcelli titulum dedicavit, ubi die noctuque hymnis et orationibus domino Iesu Christo confitebatur. Hoc audito Maxentius misit et tenuit iterum beatum Marcellum et iussit ut in eadem ecclesia plancas externi et ibidem animalia catabuli congregata starent et ipsis beatus Marcellus deserviret. Qui tamen in servitio animalium nudus amicto cilicio defunctus est. Cuius corpus collegit beata Lucina et sepelivit in cymiterio Priscillae, via Salaria, XVII kal. febr.

'A certain lady named Lucina, a widow, who had lived with her husband Marcus 15 years and had been 19 years in her widowhood, received the blessed man; she dedicated her house as a titulus in the name of blessed Marcellus and there she confessed the Lord Jesus Christ by day and night with hymns and prayers. Hearing this, Maxentius sent and rearrested the blessed Marcellus, and ordered boards to be relaid in that church, the animals of the Catabulum [= the public transport system] to be gathered there, and blessed Marcellus to be at their service. Naked but for a hairshirt, he died in servitude to animals. The blessed Lucina collected his body and buried it in the cemetery of Priscilla on the via Salaria on 16 January.'


Text: Duchesne 1886, 73/75 and 164. Translation: Davis 2010, 12-13, lightly modified. Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.