MARCELLINUS, St, according to the Liberian catalogue, became bishop of Rome on June 30, 296; his predecessor was Caius or Gaius. Of his pontificate virtually nothing is known. In the Concilia of Mansi and Hardouin there is an account of a synod alleged to have been held in 303 at Sinuessa (between Rome and Capua), at which Marcellinus was accused by three of his priests and two of his deacons of having accompanied Diocletian into the temple of Vesta and Isis, and there burnt incense. The narrative goes on to say that ultimately he confessed his guilt in the presence of the three hundred assembled bishops, but that his condemnation was left to himself, for “prima sedes non judicatur a quoquam.” It is further stated in the same account that he and many of the other bishops were put to death by Diocletian on August 23, 303. The story of the synod of Sinuessa was current at an early date, but was condemned by Augustine and Theodoret as a mere invention of the Donatists. Its fabulous character is maintained by Döllinger {Papstfabeln} and by Hefele {Conciliengesclιichtef even against the weighty authority of the Breviary, where it constitutes a lesson in one of the nocturns for April 26, the commemoration day of Marcellinus. Marcellinus died, according to the Liberian catalogue, in 304, after a pontificate of eight years three months and twenty-five days; after a considerable interval he was succeeded by Marcellus, who has sometimes been identified with him.