The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Meraclus
fl. 19 May 303 (death unrecorded) · Gravedigger of Cirta · Cirta (Constantina), Numidia
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Meraclus was
One of the six fossores of the church of Cirta named in the seizure record. The fossores were a recognised minor order who dug and sold graves and, as the same trial shows, sometimes decorated them. Before this document the archive held no gravedigger at all.
Named once, in the Gesta apud Zenophilum — the Cirta records of 19 May 303 and 13 December 320; no other ancient source names him.
Common questions
When was Meraclus active?
Meraclus is dated fl. 19 May 303 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Meraclus in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313).
Which early sources mention Meraclus?
Meraclus is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Municipal acts of Cirta. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Meraclus from?
The archive associates Meraclus with Cirta (Constantina), Numidia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Meraclus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Meraclus to 3 other figures, including Victor of Samsuricum, Migginis and Diogenes the Gravedigger. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Acts of Munatius Felix, 19 May 303 — read into evidence before Zenophilus
c. AD 303In the presence of Paul the Bishop (who remained seated), of Montanus and Victor of Deusatelium, and Memorius priests, Mars and Helius the deacons, Marcuclius, Catullinus, Silvanus and Carosus the subdeacons standing by with Januarius, Meraclus, Fructuosus, Migginis, Saturninus, Victor and the rest of the grave-diggers, Victor of Aufidus made this brief inventory against them.Municipal acts of Cirta · Gesta apud Zenophilum, Acts of 19 May 303 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Meraclus in the sources
These figures are placed with Meraclus by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Meraclus naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
- AD 250 · The Decian persecution, AD 250
- AD 251 · The Novatianist schism, AD 251
- AD 257 · The Valerian persecution, AD 257
- AD 260 · Gallienus’ edict of toleration, AD 260
- AD 268 · Antioch deposes Paul of Samosata, AD 268
- AD 272 · Aurelian awards the Antioch church, AD 272
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Meraclus, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.