Marcellus (Army Master)

Marcellus was a late antique Roman army master ( magister militum ) in the 4th century AD.

Marcellus came from Serdica , according to the historian Ammianus Marcellinus , our most important source for this period . He served under Emperor Constantius II and was appointed magister equitum in Gaul in 356 , where he was initially supported by the master of the East, Ursicinus . Constantius had installed his relative Julian as Caesar there, but apparently there were differences of opinion between Julian and his generals about the command structures. Julian was nevertheless able to record some successes against the Alamanni and at the end of 356 retired to Senonae to winter quarters, while Marcellus camped with the main force nearby.

When the Alemanni attacked surprisingly and besieged Senonae , Marcellus refused to come to Julian’s aid. The reason for this may have been the general's hurt pride, who may have resented Julian's stubbornness and was jealous of his successes. However, Julian was able to repel the Alamanni without the reinforcements. When Constantius II learned of Marcellus' behavior, he replaced him and instead appointed General Severus as the new general. Evidently Constantius endeavored to give Julian every possible support, which does not really fit the picture partly drawn in the sources, Constantius often wanted to hinder Julian and envied him for his victories. Rather, the emperor was primarily concerned with securing Gaul.

Marcellus meanwhile made serious accusations against Julian, which remained without consequence. When Julian became emperor at the end of 361, after the death of Constantius and the civil war that was only prevented by this, the son of Marcellus intrigued against Julian and was therefore executed. Marcellus himself, who perhaps feared reprisals, was spared. Nothing is known about his further life.

literature

The most important source is the 16th book by Ammianus Marcellinus .

• Glen W. Bowersock : Julian the Apostate. Duckworth, London 1978, ISBN 0-7156-1262-X , p. 33 ff.
• Arnold HM Jones , John R. Martindale, John Morris: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire . Volume 1: AD 260-395. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1971, pp. 550 f.
• Klaus Rosen : Julian. Emperor, God and haters of Christians. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-608-94296-3 , p. 137 ff.
• David Woods: The Fate of the Magister Equitum Marcellus. In: The Classical Quarterly . New Series. Vol. 45, No. 1, 1995, pp. 266-268, doi : 10.1017 / S0009838800041963 .