Purpurius

[2] It was Purpurius who first introduced the likening of the Donatist community as a new expression of the Israelites following Moses in the Desert.

[3] He was an attendee at the Synod of Cirta, the beginning of the Donatist movement.

The accusation was he had murdered his nephews at Milevus, though we are not told what the circumstance of the act were.

Optatus also claims he was brigand and had stolen vinegar from the imperial stores.

His private affairs, even murder, were no bar to his participation in the ritual of consecration.