Mark was born sometime in the first century A.D. and is said to have died in Alexandria, Egypt. Information about his life is fragmentary. He went along with his brother Barnabas and Paul on their first mission to Antioch (Antakaya, Turkey). Barnabas and Mark left the mission early for unknown reasons and went to Cyprus. Mark was later active in the missionary work of both Peter and Paul in Rome.By tradition, he is the author of the second of the synoptic Gospels.