Marcellinus was a Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 officer under Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

 Constans

Constans

Constans , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 350. He defeated his brother Constantine II in 340, but anger in the army over his personal life and preference for his barbarian bodyguards saw the general Magnentius rebel, resulting in Constans’ assassination in 350.-Career:Constans was the third and...

 and usurper

Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpation was endemic during roman imperial era, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule.The...

 Magnentius

Magnentius

Flavius Magnus Magnentius was a usurper of the Roman Empire .-Early life and career:...

.

Marcellinus was comes

Comes

Comes , plural comites , is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus, especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" +...

 rerum privatarum of Emperor Constans. He played a major role in the election of Magnentius to the rank of Augustus

Augustus (honorific)

Augustus , Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus , and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors...

at Augustodunum, on January 18, 350. Marcellinus organized a party for the birthday of his sons, and invited many of the superior officers: Magnentius, acting like interpreting a drama, vested the imperial robes, and was hailed Augustus by the officers; when the troops heard the cries, they supported Magnentius' election.

Magnentius raised Marcellinus to the rank of magister officiorum

Magister officiorum

The magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire...

; after the usurpation of Nepotianus

Nepotianus

Iulius Nepotianus , commonly known in English as Nepotian, was a member of the Constantinian dynasty who reigned as a short-lived usurper of the Roman Empire...

 (3 June 350), Marcellinus was sent to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 to deal with the matter, and he succeeded in suppressing the revolt (30 June), killing Nepotianus and his mother Eutropia

Eutropia

Eutropia a woman of Syrian origin, who was the wife of Emperor Maximian.- Marriage to Maximian and their children :In the late 3rd century, she married Maximian, though the exact date of this marriage is uncertain. By Maximian, she had two children, a boy, Maxentius , who was Western Roman...

, half-sister of Emperor Constantine I

Constantine I

Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...

.

Marcellinus also met Emperor Constantius II

Constantius II

Constantius II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361. The second son of Constantine I and Fausta, he ascended to the throne with his brothers Constantine II and Constans upon their father's death....

's messenger, Flavius Philippus

Flavius Philippus

Flavius Philippus was a Roman Empire officer under Emperor Constantius II.- Biography :Son of a sausage-maker, Philippus rose in social levels becoming a notarius. In 346, he became Praetorian Prefect of the East under Emperor Constantius, allegedly because of the influence of the court eunuchs...

, and escorted him to Magnentius, in a failed embassy to avoid a battle between Constantius and Magnentius. Marcellinus disappeared in the following Battle of Mursa Major

Battle of Mursa Major

The Battle of Mursa Major was fought in 351 between the Eastern Roman army led by Constantius II and the western forces supporting the usurper Magnentius.The action took place along the valley of the Drava River, a Danube tributary in present day Croatia....

 (28 September 351), in which Magnentius was defeated. Most likely, he was killed, and his body lost.

Primary sources

• Aurelius Victor
  Aurelius Victor
  Sextus Aurelius Victor was a historian and politician of the Roman Empire.Aurelius Victor was the author of a History of Rome from Augustus to Julian , published ca. 361. Julian honoured him and appointed him prefect of Pannonia Secunda...
  
  , Epitome de Caesaribus.
• Zosimus
  Zosimus
  Zosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury.- Historia Nova :...
  
  , Historia Nova.

Secondary sources