The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313 · External witness
Marcus the Magician
fl. c. AD 160–180 (death unrecorded) · Valentinian wonder-worker · Founder of the Marcosians · Asia Minor → Rhône valley
External witness
Who Marcus the Magician was
The Valentinian showman whose eucharistic conjuring — cups bubbling purple, women prophesying at his command — Irenaeus dissects at greater length than any other opponent, because the sect had reached his own Rhône valley. Numbers and letters were his theology: the body of Truth spelled out alphabetically, the aeons counted on fingers. Irenaeus preserved a church elder's verse against him: the framer of idols and inspector of portents.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When was Marcus active?
Marcus the Magician is dated fl. c. AD 160–180 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Marcus in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Marcus?
Marcus the Magician is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Irenaeus of Lyon, Hippolytus of Rome and Eusebius of Caesarea. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Marcus from?
The archive associates Marcus the Magician with Asia Minor, Rhône valley. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Marcus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Marcus the Magician to 2 other figures, including Valentinus and Irenaeus of Lyon. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Against Heresies I.13–15
c. AD 180Marcus, thou framer of idols and inspector of portents… pretending to consecrate cups mixed with wine, and protracting to great length the word of invocation, he contrives to give them a purple and reddish colour.Irenaeus of Lyon · I.13 · source text
Refutation of All Heresies VI.39–54
c. AD 225A certain other teacher among them, Marcus, an adept in sorcery, carrying on operations partly by sleight of hand and partly by demons.Hippolytus of Rome · Refutation VI.39 · source text
Ecclesiastical History IV.11 ('most experienced in magical arts', from Irenaeus)
c. AD 325Others of them boast of Marcus, a man most experienced in magical arts.Eusebius of Caesarea · Ecclesiastical History IV.11 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 112 · Pliny writes Trajan, AD 112
- AD 117 · Symeon and Ignatius martyred, AD 117
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
- AD 144 · Marcion expelled at Rome, AD 144
- AD 156 · The New Prophecy erupts, AD 156
- AD 177 · Persecution at Lyon and Vienne, AD 177
- AD 180 · The Scillitan martyrs, AD 180
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Marcus.
- 1Asia Minorprovince only