Martyrdom and Tradition
The hagiographical tradition relates that Marcellus was imprisoned during the persecutions of Marcus Aurelius and, after his release, resumed his missionary labors along the Saône. Arrested a second time, he was subjected to torture during a pagan festival and then buried to the waist, where he lingered for three days before dying of his wounds and exposure. Some accounts name the governor who condemned him as Priscus and place his death on September 4 in the year 177 or 179, the precise year remaining uncertain.
Because his surviving life exists in two later recensions and contains legendary elements, including parallels with local Gaulish religious traditions, modern scholarship treats much of its narrative detail with caution while regarding the underlying cult as ancient and well established. A church and cult in his honor at Chalon-sur-Saône are attested from an early date, and he is venerated as a patron of Chalon-sur-Saône and of Lyon.