The Circumcellions, or Agonistici[1] (as called by Donatists), were bands of Roman Christian radicals in North Africa in the early to mid-4th century.
[3] The term "Circumcellions" may have been coined by critics who referred to them as "circum cellas euntes" (they go around larders) because "they roved about among the peasants, living on those they sought to indoctrinate.
[5] Bishop Optatus of Milevis says that around 340 they started an uprising directed at creditors and slave owners.
[6] They regarded martyrdom as the true Christian virtue and thus disagreed with the Episcopal see of Carthage on the primacy of chastity, sobriety, humility, and charity.
[citation needed] On occasion, members assaulted Roman legionaries or armed travelers with simple wooden clubs to provoke them into attacking and martyring them.