Valens/Valentinus, Flora/Florinus and Marcus/Marcianus

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All of which brings up another important issue - that often times there wasn't necessarily a historical individual behind these groups. For instance Hebion of the Ebionites, Elxasi of the Elxasites. Despite Ebion ultimately being a non-Greek word, I have always been struck by the possibilities of parallel back-formation with Marcion. The identification of the Ebionites deriving from Ebion goes back to Hippolytus's Syntagma owing to the agreement of our two principle witnesses (Pseudo-Tertullian and the Panarion). So Hippolytus or perhaps even Irenaeus made the original 'back-formation.'

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On top of Hegesippus'

Άπό τούτων Μενανδριανισταί και Μαρκιανισταί (οί. 5.16.21) και Καρποκρατιανοί καί Οΰαλεντινιανοί καί Βασιλειδιανοί καί Σατορνιλιανοί έκαστος

is the strange parallel use of the -ianus suffix in Justin Martyr:

Μαρκιανοί, οἱ δὲ Oὐαλεντινιανοί, οἱ δὲ Βασιλειδιανοί, οἱ δὲ Σατορνιλιανοί

This can't mean that there was an otherwise unknown heretic called Marcius who had a prominent group in Rome at the time of Justin. There was a group which followed Mark or Marcus and which was strangely identified as Μαρκιανοί by Justin and Μαρκιανισταί by Hegesippus.

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I think this is particularly relevant - the Theoriani of Theoros:

https://books.google.com/books?id=q6MSD ... 22&f=false

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Polycarpianus (Polycarpus + ianus), Erotianus (Eros + ianus) https://books.google.com/books?id=5CsAH ... en&f=false

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Africanianus, Laecanianus, Lucanianus https://books.google.com/books?id=f1MgA ... QQ6AEILjAB

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Albanianus (Albanus + ianus) https://books.google.com/books?id=ll1jA ... sQ6AEIKjAA

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Albianus (Albus + ianus) https://books.google.com/books?id=4pAkA ... gQ6AEILTAB

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Avitianus (Avitus + ianus) https://books.google.com/books?id=NJQSD ... 22&f=false

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Blandianus (Blandus + ianus) https://books.google.com/books?id=hFtoA ... us&f=false

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Brutianus (Brutus + ianus) https://books.google.com/books?id=cUgM_ ... us&f=false