CERDONIANS

cerdonians, a gnostic sect, founded by cerdo, a syrian, who came to rome about 137, but concerning whose history little is known. they held that there are two first causes--the perfectly good and the perfectly evil. the latter is also the creator of the world, the god of the jews, and the author of the old testament. jesus christ is the son of the good deity; he was sent into the world to oppose the evil; but his incarnation, and therefore his sufferings, were a mere appearance. regarding the body as the work of the evil deity, the cerdonians formed a moral system of great severity, prohibiting marriage, wine and the eating of flesh, and advocating fasting and other austerities. most of what the fathers narrate of cerdo's tenets has probably been transferred to him from his famous pupil marcion, like whom he is said to have rejected the old testament and the new, except part of luke's gospel and of paul's epistles. (see marcion, and gnosticism.) cerealis (cerialis), petillius (1st century a.d.), roman general, a near relative of the emperor vespasian. he is first heard of during the reign of nero in britain, where he was completely defeated (a.d. 61) by boadicea. eight years later he played an important part in the capture of rome by the supporters of vespasian. in 70 he put down the revolt of civilis (q.v.). in 71, as governor of britain, where he had as a subordinate the famous agricola, he inflicted severe defeats upon the brigantes, the most powerful of the tribes of britain. tacitus says that he was a bold soldier rather than a careful general, and preferred to stake everything on the issue of a single engagement. he possessed natural eloquence of a kind that readily appealed to his soldiers. his loyalty towards his superiors was unshakable. tacitus, _annals_, xiv. 32; _histories_, iii. 59, 78, iv. 71, 75, 86, v. 21; _agricola_, 8, 17.