Ambrosius: Epistulae Variae

AMBROSIUS apud Caesarem se, quod non venerit, excusat, et laudata ipsius humilitate, fide ac pietate, a se mitti libros petitos scribit, seque voluntati ejusdem in lucubrandis tractatibus de Spiritu sancto satisfacturum spondet.

AMBROSE before Caesar excuses himself for not having come, and, his humility, faith, and piety having been praised, he writes that the requested books are being sent by himself, and he pledges that he will satisfy that same one’s will in lucubrated treatises on the Holy Spirit.

Beatissimo augusto GRATIANO, et christianissimo principi AMBROSIUS episcopus.

To the most blessed Augustus GRATIAN, and most Christian prince, AMBROSE the bishop.

1. Non mihi affectus defuit, christianissime principum; nihil enim habeo, quod hoc verius et gloriosius dicam: non, inquam, mihi affectus defuit, sed affectum verecundia retardavit, quominus clementiae tuae occurrerem. Revertenti tamen si non occurri vestigio, occurri animo, occurri voto, in quo majora sunt officia sacerdotis. Occurri, dico?

1. Affection was not lacking to me, most Christian of princes; for I have nothing that I could say more truly and more gloriously than this: affection, I say, was not lacking to me, but modesty delayed the affection, so that I did not go to meet your clemency. Yet, as you were returning, if I did not meet you with my footstep, I met you with my mind, I met you with my vow, wherein are the greater offices of a priest. Did I meet you, I say?

Quando enim abfui, quem toto sequebar affectu, cui sensu ac mentibus inhaerebam? Et certe major animorum praesentia est. Tuum quotidianum iter legebam, nocte ac die in tuis castris cura et sensu locatus, orationum excubiis praetendebam: et si invalidus merito, sed affectu sedulus.

For when, indeed, was I absent from you, whom I was following with my whole affection, to whom I was clinging with sense and with my minds? And surely the presence of spirits is the greater. I was reading your daily route, by night and by day stationed in your camp by care and by feeling; I was putting forward the vigils of prayers: and if weak with good reason, yet assiduous in affection.

7532. Et haec quidem cum pro tua salute deferebamus, pro nobis faciebamus. Nihil hic adulationis est, quam tu non requiris, ego alienam nostro duco officio: sed plurimum gratiae, quam dedisti. Scit ipse nostri arbiter, quem fateris, et in quem pie credis, refici viscera mea tua fide, tua salute, tua gloria: meque non solum officio publico debitas pendere preces, sed etiam amore privato.

7532. And indeed when we were proffering these things for your welfare, we were doing them on our own behalf. There is nothing here of adulation—which you do not require, and I deem alien to my office—but very much of gratitude, which you have given. He himself, our arbiter, knows, whom you confess, and in whom you piously believe, that my viscera are refreshed by your faith, your welfare, your glory: and that I discharge not only the prayers owed by public office, but also by private love.

Reddidisti enim mihi quietem Ecclesiae, perfidorum ora, atque utinam et corda, clausisti: et hoc non minore fidei, quam potestatis auctoritate fecisti.

For you have restored to me the peace of the Church; you have closed the mouths of the perfidious—and would that their hearts as well; and you have done this with no less the authority of faith than of power.

3. Nam quid de litteris recentibus loquar? Scripsisti tua totam epistolam manu; ut ipsi apices fidem tuam pietatemque loquerentur. Sic Abraham sua manu quondam vitulum occidit (Gen.

3. For why should I speak of the recent letters? You wrote the whole epistle with your own hand, so that the very characters might speak your faith and piety. Thus Abraham once with his own hand slew a calf (Gen.

XVIII, 7), ut hospitibus epulantibus ministraret: nec in ministerio religioso aliorum adjumenta quaesivit. Sed ille privatus aut Domino et angelis, aut Domino in angelis deferebat: tu, Imperator, dignatione regali honoras infimum sacerdotem. Sed Domino defertur, cum servulus honoratur; ipse enim dixit: Quod uni horum minimorum fecistis, mihi fecistis (Matth.

18, 7), so that he might minister while the guests were feasting: nor in religious ministry did he seek the aids of others. But that man, a private person, was offering either to the Lord and the angels, or to the Lord in the angels: you, Emperor, by royal condescension honor the lowest priest. But it is rendered to the Lord, when the little servant is honored; for he himself said: What you have done to one of these least, you have done to me (Matt.

XXV, 10).

25, 10).

4. At ego humilitatem tantummodo praedico in imperatore sublimem, ac non amplius fidem quam vere conscia meriti tui mente dixisti, quam docet te ille, quem non negas? Quis enim alius docere te potuit, ut ei non objicias, quam in te vides, creaturam? Nihil moralius, nihil expressius dici potuit; creaturam enim Christum dicere, pro objectu contumeliae est, non pro confessione reverentiae.

4. But I proclaim only humility as sublime in the emperor, and I do not ascribe more of faith than what you truly said with a mind conscious of your merit: that which He teaches you, whom you do not deny. For who else could have taught you, so that you do not object against Him the thing which you see in yourself—a creature? Nothing more moral, nothing more express could be said; for to call Christ a creature is by way of an object of contumely, not by way of a confession of reverence.

Deinde quid tam insolens, quam id eum existimare, quod nos sumus? Docuisti igitur me, a quo te discere velle profiteris: nihil tale adhuc legi, nihil tale audivi.

Then what is so insolent as to esteem him to be that which we are? You have taught me, from whom you profess that you wish to learn: nothing such have I read hitherto, nothing such have I heard.

5. Quam pium autem illud, quam admirabile, quod in Deo non vereris invidiam! De Patre remunerationem pro Filii amore praesumis, et laudando Filium, non ei te posse aliquid addere profiteris: sed velle ut etiam Patri te Filii praedicatione commendes. Quod utique solus te docuit ille, qui dixit:Qui me diligit, diligetur a Patre meo (Joan.

5. How pious moreover is that, how admirable, that you do not fear envy in God! From the Father you presume remuneration for love of the Son, and by praising the Son you profess that you are not able to add anything to him; but that you wish by the Son’s proclamation to commend yourself even to the Father. Which indeed that One alone taught you, who said:He who loves me will be loved by my Father (John.

XIV, 21).

14, 21).

6. Addidisti ad haec, quia tu infirmus et fragilis non te talem laudatorem putabas, ut divinitatem verbis augeas: sed quantum possis praedices,754 non quantum est ipsa divinitas. Haec infirmitas in Christo fortior est, sicut et Apostolus dixit: Cum infirmor, tunc potens sum (II Cor. XII, 10). Haec humilitas excludit fragilitatem.

6. You added to these things that you, infirm and fragile, did not think yourself such a laudator as to augment the divinity by words; but that you proclaim as much as you can,754 not as much as the divinity itself is. This infirmity is stronger in Christ, just as the Apostle also said: When I am weak, then I am powerful (2 Cor. 12, 10). This humility excludes fragility.

7.Veniam plane, et festinabo, ut jubes; ut haec praesens audiam, ut haec praesens legam, cum ex tuo ore procedunt. Misi autem duos libellos, quorum jam, quia tuae clementiae sunt probati, periculum non verebor: de Spiritu vero interim veniam scriptioni peto; quoniam quem judicem mei sim sermonis habiturus, agnovi.

7.I will indeed come, and I will hasten, as you bid; so that present I may hear these things, so that present I may read these things, when they proceed from your mouth. I have, moreover, sent two little books, about which now, since they have been approved by your clemency, I shall not fear danger: but as to the Spirit, meanwhile I beg indulgence for the writing; since I have recognized whom I am going to have as judge of my discourse.

8. Interim tamen sententia et fides tua de Domino et Salvatore deprompta de Dei Filio, redundat ad assertionem uberrimam, per quam sancti quoque Spiritus divinitas sempiterna credatur; ut non ei objicias, quam in te vides creaturam, nec Deum Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi Spiritui suo existimes invidere. Quod enim creaturae caret communione, divinum est.

8. Meanwhile, however, your judgment and faith concerning the Lord and Savior, drawn forth from the Son of God, redound to a most abundant assertion, through which the sempiternal divinity of the Holy Spirit also is believed; so that you do not object to him the creaturehood which you see in yourself, nor think that God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ begrudges His Spirit. For what lacks communion with the creature is divine.

9. Si Dominus faverit, huic etiam clementiae tuae satisfaciam voluntati; ut cujus accepisti gratiam, eum plane in Dei gloria praeeminentem suo nomine aestimes honorandum.

9. If the Lord favors, I will also satisfy this will of your clemency; so that him whose grace you have received, you may esteem, plainly preeminent in the glory of God, to be honored by his own name.

10. Beatissimum te et florentissimum Deus omnipotens Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi tueri aetate prolixa, et regnum tuum in summa gloria, et pace perpetua confirmare dignetur, domine Imperator auguste, divino electe judicio, principum gloriosissime.

10. May God almighty, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, deign to guard you most blessed and most flourishing with a prolonged age, and to confirm your kingdom in highest glory and perpetual peace, lord Emperor Augustus, chosen by divine judgment, most glorious of princes.

EPISTOLA II.

EPISTLE 2.

CONSTANTIUM in episcopum nuper electum monet, ut ecclesiam in mari ac fluminibus regat, quid utroque significetur, promens. Hortatur ut aquas, queis populi mentes riget, colligat: et cujusmodi sermones ejus esse, quasve illum praecipere virtutes oporteat, ubi docuit, de statera, qua sermo expendatur, tractat. Humilitatis ostensurus utilitatem, exemplum affert beati Joseph; praesentiumque vanitate, ejusdem Joseph ac David historiis demonstrata, populos ad veras opes sibi parandas excitandos tradit, Denique Ecclesiam Fori Cornelii ei commendans, de prudentia in haereticos, de justitia in vicinos, deque humanitate in servos nonnihil addit.

CONSTANTIUS recently elected as bishop, he admonishes to steer the church upon the sea and the rivers, bringing forth what is signified by each. He exhorts him to collect the waters with which he irrigates the minds of the peoples; and, having taught of what sort his sermons ought to be and what virtues he should precept, he treats of the balance by which speech is weighed. Intending to show the utility of humility, he brings the example of blessed Joseph; and, the vanity of present things having been demonstrated by the histories of that same Joseph and of David, he hands down that the peoples are to be stirred up to prepare true riches for themselves. Finally, commending to him the Church of Forum Cornelii, he adds somewhat concerning prudence toward heretics, concerning justice toward neighbors, and concerning humanity toward slaves.

AMBROSIUS CONSTANTIO.

AMBROSE TO CONSTANTIUS.

1. Suscepisti munus sacerdotii, et in puppe Ecclesiae sedens, navim adversus fluctus gubernas. Tene clavum fidei, ut te graves hujus saeculi turbare non possint procellae. Mare755 quidem magnum et spatiosum, sed noli vereri; quia ipse super maria fundavit eam, et super flumina praeparavit eam (Ps. XXIII, 2). Itaque non immerito inter tot mundi freta Ecclesia Domini tamquam supra apostolicam aedificata petram immobilis manet, et inconcusso adversum impetus saevientis sali perseverat fundamine (Matth.

1. You have undertaken the office of the priesthood, and, sitting in the stern of the Church, you steer the ship against the waves. Hold the helm of faith, so that the heavy storms of this age may not be able to disturb you. The sea755 indeed is great and spacious, but do not fear; because He Himself founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the rivers (Ps. 23, 2). And so, not without reason, amid so many straits of the world, the Church of the Lord, as built upon the apostolic rock, remains immovable, and with an unshaken foundation perseveres against the assaults of the raging brine (Matth.

XVI, 18). Alluitur undis, non quatitur: et licet frequenter elementa mundi hujus magno illisa resultent fragore; habet tamen quo laborantes excipiat, tutissimum portum salutis.

16, 18). It is laved by the waves, it is not shaken: and although the elements of this world, when dashed, often rebound with a great crash; yet it has, wherewith to receive those laboring, the safest port of salvation.

2. Sed tamen etsi in mari fluctuat, currit in fluminibus; et vide ne in illis fluminibus magis, de quibus dictum est:Elevaverunt flumina vocem suam (Psal. XCII, 3). Sunt enim flumina, quae de ventre ejus fluent, qui potum a Christo acceperit, et de Spiritu Dei sumpserit (Joan. VII, 38). Haec ergo flumina, cum redundant spiritali gratia, elevant vocem suam.

2. But yet, even if upon the sea it fluctuates, it runs in the rivers; and see whether rather in those rivers, of which it was said:The rivers have elevated their voice (Psalm 92, 3). For there are rivers which shall flow from his belly, who shall have received drink from Christ, and shall have taken of the Spirit of God (John 7, 38). These therefore rivers, when they overflow with spiritual grace, elevate their voice.

Est et fluvius qui decurrit in sanctos suos sicut torrens (Esai. LXVI, 12). Est et fluminis impetus, qui laetificat animam pacificam atque tranquillam (Psal. XLV, 5). Ex hujus fluminis plenitudine quicumque acceperit, sicut Joannes Evangelista, sicut Petrus et Paulus, elevat vocem suam: et sicut apostoli evangelicae praedicationis vocem usque in totos fines orbis terrarum canoro diffuderunt praeconio; ita et iste incipit evangelizare Dominum Jesum.

There is also a river which runs down into his saints like a torrent (Isaiah 66, 12). There is also the impulse of a river, which gladdens the peaceful and tranquil soul (Psalm 45, 5). From the plenitude of this river whoever receives, like John the Evangelist, like Peter and Paul, raises his voice; and just as the apostles diffused the voice of evangelical preaching to the very ends of the orb of the earth with canorous proclamation, so also this one begins to evangelize the Lord Jesus.

Accipe ergo a Christo, ut et tuus sonus exeat.

Receive therefore from Christ, that your sound may also go forth.

3. Mare est Scriptura divina, habens in se sensus profundos, et altitudinem propheticorum aenigmatum: in quod mare plurima introierunt flumina. Sunt ergo et fluvii dulces atque perspicui, sunt et fontes nivei, qui saliant in vitam aeternam (Joan. IV, 14): sunt et sermones boni, sicut favi mellis (Prov.

3. The divine Scripture is a sea, having within itself profound senses, and the altitude of prophetic enigmas: into which sea very many rivers have entered. Therefore there are also rivers sweet and perspicuous, and there are snowy springs, which leap up into eternal life (John 4, 14): and there are good discourses, like honeycombs (Prov.

XVI, 24): et gratae sententiae, quae animos audientium spiritali quodam potu irrigent, et praeceptorum moralium suavitate mulceant. Diversa igitur Scripturarum divinarum fluenta. Habes quod primum bibas, habes quod secundum, habes quod postremum.

16, 24): and pleasing sentences, which may irrigate the minds of the hearers with a certain spiritual draught, and may soothe with the suavity of moral precepts. Diverse, therefore, are the streams of the divine Scriptures. You have what to drink first, you have what second, you have what last.

4. Collige aquam Christi, illam quae laudat Dominum (Psal. CXLVIII, 5). Collige aquam de pluribus locis, quam effundunt nubes propheticae (Eccl. XI, 3). Quicumque colligit de montibus aquam, atque ad se trahit, vel haurit e fontibus et ipse rorat sicut nubes.

4. Gather the water of Christ, that which praises the Lord (Psal. 148, 5). Gather water from many places, which the prophetic clouds pour out (Eccl. 11, 3). Whoever gathers water from the mountains and draws it to himself, or draws from the fountains, he too bedews like the clouds.

Imple ergo gremium mentis tuae; ut terra tua humescat, et domesticis irrigetur fontibus. Ergo qui multa legit et intelligit, impletur: qui fuerit impletus, alios rigat; ideoque Scriptura dicit: Si impletae fuerint nubes, pluviam in terram effundent (Ibid.).

Fill therefore the bosom of your mind; so that your land may grow moist, and be irrigated by domestic springs. Therefore he who reads much and understands is filled; he who shall have been filled waters others; and therefore Scripture says: If the clouds shall have been filled, they will pour out rain upon the earth (Ibid.).

5. Sint ergo sermones tui proflui, sint puri, et dilucidi; ut morali disputatione suavitatem infundas populorum auribus, et gratia verborum tuorum plebem demulceas; ut volens quo ducis, sequatur. Quod si aliqua vel in populo vel in aliquibus contumacia, vel culpa est, sint sermones tui hujusmodi, ut audientem stimulent, compungant male conscium:Sermones enim sapientium tamquam stimuli (Eccl. XII, 11). Stimulavit et Dominus Jesus Saulum, cum esset persecutor.

5. Therefore let your sermons be flowing, be pure and lucid; that by moral disputation you may pour sweetness into the ears of the peoples, and with the grace of your words you may soothe the plebs, so that, willing, he may follow where you lead. But if there is any contumacy, whether in the people or in certain individuals, or a fault, let your sermons be of such a sort as to spur the hearer, to pierce the guilty conscience:For the discourses of the wise are like goads (Eccl. 12, 11). The Lord Jesus also goaded Saul, when he was a persecutor.

Quam salutaris fuerit stimulus, considera, qui ex persecutore apostolum fecit, dicendo: Durum 756 est tibi, ut adversus stimulum calces (Act. IX, 5).

Consider how salutary the goad was, which made out of a persecutor an apostle, by saying: It is hard 756 for you to kick against the goad (Acts 9, 5).

6. Sunt etiam sermones sicut lac, quos infudit Paulus Corinthiis (I Cor. III, 2); qui enim fortiorem cibum epulari non queunt, succo lactis ingenii sui exercent infantiam.

6. There are also sermons like milk, which Paul infused to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 3, 2); for those who are not able to banquet upon stronger food, with the sap of milk they exercise the infancy of their ingenuity.

7. Alloquia tua plena intellectus sint. Unde et Salomon ait:Arma intellectus labia sapientis (Prov. XIV, 3); et alibi: Labia tua alligata sint sensu (Prov.

7. Let your allocutions be full of intellect. Whence also Solomon says:The lips of the wise are the arms of intellect (Prov. 14, 3); and elsewhere: Let your lips be bound with sense (Prov.

XV, 5), id est, fulgeat sermonum tuorum manifestatio, intellectus coruscet, et alloquium tuum atque tractatus aliena non indigeat assertione: sed sermo tuus velut armis suis sese ipse tueatur, nec ullum verbum tuum in vanum exeat, et sine sensu prodeat. Est enim alligatura, quae constringere solet animorum vulnera: quam si quis rejicit, desperatam sui prodit salutem (Esai. I, 6). Et ideo circa eos qui gravi ulcere vexantur, utere oleo sermonis, quo foveas mentis duritiam: appone malagma, adjunge alligaturam salutaris praecepti; ut vagos et fluctuantes circa fidem, vel disciplinae observantiam nequaquam soluto animo et remisso vigore patiaris perire.

15, 5), that is, let the manifestation of your discourses shine, let intellect coruscate, and let your address and treatise not need another’s assertion: but let your word, as if by its own arms, defend itself; and let no word of yours go out in vain and proceed without sense. For there is a ligature which is accustomed to bind up the wounds of souls: which, if anyone rejects, he betrays his own salvation as desperate (Isaiah 1, 6). And therefore, with respect to those who are vexed by a grave ulcer, use the oil of speech, with which you may warm the hardness of mind: apply a poultice, add the ligature of a salutary precept, so that you may by no means allow those wandering and fluctuating concerning the faith, or the observance of discipline, to perish with a loosened mind and relaxed vigor.

8. Admone igitur plebem Domini, atque obsecra, ut abundet in operibus bonis, renuntiet flagitiis, non accendat flammarum incendia, non dicam in sabbato, sed in omni tempore; ne comburat corpus suum: fornicatio et immunditia non sit in Dei servulis; quia immaculato servimus Dei Filio (Ephes. V, 3). Noverit unusquisque se, et vas possideat suum (I Thes. IV, 4), quo subacto quodam sui corporis solo, fructus exspectet debitos, nec spinas et tribulos ei terra sua germinet (Gen.

8. Therefore admonish the people of the Lord, and beseech, that it abound in good works, renounce flagitious deeds, not kindle conflagrations of flames, I will not say on the sabbath, but at every time; lest it burn its own body: let not fornication and immundity be in the servants of God; because we serve the Immaculate Son of God (Ephes. 5, 3). Let each one know himself, and possess his own vessel (1 Thes. 4, 4), so that, having subdued as it were the soil of his own body, he may expect the due fruits, and let not his land sprout thorns and thistles for him (Gen.

III, 18), sed dicat et ipse: Terra dedit fructus suos (Psal. LXXXIV, 13); atque in hac dumosa quondam passionum fragilitate insitiva virtutum effloreant.

3, 18), but let him also say: The earth has given its fruits (Psal. 84, 13); and in this once-thorny fragility of passions may the grafts of virtues blossom forth.

9. Edoce etiam atque institue, ut faciant quod bonum est, et unusquisque non intermittat opus probabile, sive a pluribus videatur, sive sine arbitro sit; abundat enim sibi locuples testis conscientia.

9. Teach also and instruct, that they may do what is good, and let each not intermit an approvable work, whether it be seen by many, or be without an arbiter; for to oneself there abounds a rich witness—conscience.

10. Fugiat etiam mala opprobria; etiamsi se credat non posse convinci. Nam etsi clausus parietibus sit, et opertus tenebris, sine teste, sine conscio; habet tamen facti arbitrum, quem nihil fallat, ad quem facta clamant omnia. Denique clamavit et vox sanguinis (Gen.

10. Let him also flee evil reproaches; even if he believes himself not able to be convicted. For even if he be shut in by walls, and covered by darkness, without a witness, without anyone privy; nevertheless he has an arbiter of the deed, whom nothing deceives, to whom all deeds cry out. Finally, even the voice of blood cried out (Gen.

IV, 10). Se ipsum unusquisque et animum suum severum judicem sui, ultorem sceleris, et vindicem criminis habet. Denique timens et tremens oberrabat Cain (Ibid., 14), parricidialis facinoris luens poenas; ut ei remedio sua mors fuerit, quae vagum exsulem formidato per omnia momenta terrore mortis, per mortem exuit. Nemo igitur vel solus, vel cum altero aliquid turpe aut improbum faxit.

(4, 10). Each person has himself, and his own mind, as a severe judge of himself, an avenger of crime, and a vindicator of offense. At length, fearing and trembling, Cain was wandering about (Ibid., 14), paying the penalties of the parricidal deed; so that his own death was a remedy for him, which, by death, stripped the wandering exile of the terror of death, dreaded at every moment. Therefore let no one, either alone or with another, do anything base or depraved.

Et si quis solus est, seipsum prae caeteris erubescat, quem maxime debet vereri.

And if anyone is alone, let him blush before himself above all others, whom he ought most to revere.

11. Nec concupiscat plurima, quia et pauca ei plurima sunt; paupertas enim et opes inopiae et satietatis vocabula sunt. Nec dives est, qui indiget aliquo: nec pauper, qui non indiget. Nec quisquam viduam spernat, circumscribat pupillum, fraudet proximum suum.

11. Let him not concupisce very many things, since even few things are to him very many; for poverty and wealth are terms of want and of satiety. Nor is he rich who is in need of anything: nor poor, who is not in need. And let no one spurn a widow, overreach a ward, or defraud his neighbor.

Vae enim illi, qui congregatam dolo habet substantiam, et in sanguine aedificat civitatem (Hab. II, 6), id est, 757 animam suam! Haec est enim, quae aedificatur sicut civitas (Psal.

For woe indeed to him who has substance gathered by guile, and builds a city in blood (Hab. 2, 6), that is, 757 his soul! For this is she which is built like a city (Psal.

CXXI, 3). Hanc civitatem non aedificat avaritia, sed destruit: non aedificat libido, sed exurit atque incendit. Vis bene aedificare civitatem? Melius est exiguum cum Dei timore, quam thesauri magni sine timore (Prov.

121, 3). This city is not built up by avarice, but destroyed; it is not built up by lust, but scorched and set ablaze. Do you wish to build the city well? Better is a little with the fear of God than great treasures without fear (Prov.

XV, 16). Divitiae hominis ad redemptionem animae debent proficere, non ad destructionem. Et thesaurus redemptio est, si quis eo bene utatur: et iterum laqueus est, si quis uti nesciat (Prov. XIII, 8). Quid enim homini pecunia sua, nisi quoddam viaticum est?

15, 16). The riches of a man ought to profit for the redemption of the soul, not for destruction. And treasure is redemption, if someone uses it well; and again it is a snare, if someone does not know how to use it (Prov. 13, 8). For what is a man’s own money to him, if it is not a certain viaticum?

Multa oneri, moderata usui, Viatores sumus vitae hujus: multi ambulant, sed opus est, ut quis bene transeat; cum illo enim est Dominus Jesus, qui bene transit. Ideoque legis: Si transeas per aquam, tecum sum; flumina te non concludent, nec ignis exuret vestimenta tua, si transeas (Esai. XLIII, 2). Qui autem ignem alligat in corpore suo, ignem libidinis, ignem immodicae cupiditatis, non transit, sed exurit involucrum istud animae suae (Prov.

Many things are for burden, things moderated for use, we are Travelers of this life: many walk, but it is needful that one pass through well; for with that one is the Lord Jesus, who passes through well. And therefore you read: If you pass through water, I am with you; the rivers will not shut you in, nor will fire scorch your garments, if you pass through (Isa. 43, 2). But he who binds fire in his body—the fire of libido, the fire of immoderate cupidity—does not pass through, but burns up this envelope of his soul (Prov.

VI, 27). Praeclarior est bona existimatio quam pecunia, et super omnes argenti acervos bona est gratia. (Prov. XXII, 1). Fides ipsa abundat sibi, satis superque censu suo dives.

6, 27). More illustrious is good esteem than money, and good grace is above all heaps of silver. (Prov. 22, 1). Faith itself abounds for itself, wealthy enough and more than enough by its own means.

Sapienti quoque nihil alienum, nisi quod virtuti incongruum: quocumque accesserit, inveniet sua omnia. Totus mundus possessio ejus est; quoniam toto eo quasi suo utitur.

To the wise man, too, nothing is alien, except what is incongruous to virtue: wherever he approaches, he will find all his own. The whole world is his possession; since he uses the whole of it as though it were his own.

12. Quid igitur circumscribitur frater? Quid fraudatur mercenarius? Non magna, inquit (Prov.

12. Why then is a brother overreached? Why is the hireling defrauded? Not great things, he says (Prov.

VI, 26), lucra de mercede meretricis, id est, lubricae istius fragilitatis. Meretrix ista non specialis, sed publica est: non una mulier, sed vaga omnis cupiditas meretrix est. Omnis perfidia, omnis fallacia meretrix, non illa sola, quae corpus prostituit suum; sed omnis anima quae spem suam vendit, quae deformes quaestus et degenerem stipem quaerit.

6, 26), profits from the wage of a meretrix, that is, of this slippery fragility. This meretrix is not a particular one, but a public one: not a single woman, but every roving cupidity is a meretrix. Every perfidy, every fallacy is a meretrix, not she alone who prostitutes her body; but every soul that sells its hope, that seeks deformed gains and a degenerate stipend.

Et nos mercenarii sumus, qui ad mercedem laboramus, et hujus operis nostri mercedem speramus a Domino nostro et Deo. Si quis cognoscere vult quam mercenarii sumus, audiat dicentem: Quantis panibus mercenarii patris mei abundant? ego autem hic fame pereo (Luc.

And we too are hirelings, who labor for a wage, and we hope for the wage of this our work from our Lord and God. If anyone wishes to know what sort of hirelings we are, let him hear the one saying: How many loaves do my father's hirelings have in abundance? but I here perish with hunger (Luke.

XV, 17); et infra: Fac me, inquit, sicut unum mercenariorum tuorum (Ibid., 19). Omnes mercenarii, omnes operarii: qui tamen fructum exspectat laboris, consideret quod is qui alium mercede fraudaverit debita, et ipse fraudabitur sua. Feneratum istud offendit, et postea cumulatiore mensura exsolvet. Ergo qui non vult amittere quod est perpetuum, non eripiat alii, quod temporale est.

15, 17); and below: Make me, he says, as one of your mercenaries (Ibid., 19). All are mercenaries, all are workers: yet he who expects the fruit of labor, let him consider that he who has defrauded another of the wage owed, he himself also will be defrauded of his own. This usury offends, and afterward he will pay back with a more cumulate measure. Therefore he who does not wish to lose what is perpetual, let him not snatch from another what is temporal.

13. Nemo etiam in dolo loquatur ad proximum suum. Laqueus est in labiis nostris, et saepe unusquisque sermonibus suis non explicatur, sed involvitur (Prov. VI, 2). Fovea alta est os malevoli: grande innocentiae praecipitium, sed majus malevolentiae (Prov.

13. Let no one even speak in deceit to his neighbor. There is a snare in our lips, and often each person by his speeches is not explicated, but is entangled (Prov. 6, 2). A deep pit is the mouth of the malevolent man: a great precipice for innocence, but a greater one for malevolence (Prov.

XXII, 14). Innocens dum credit facile, cito labitur (Prov. XIV, 15); sed tamen iste lapsus resurgit: maledicus autem suis artibus praecipitatur, unde numquam exsiliat atque evadat. Ponderet ergo unusquisque sermones suos, non cum fraude et dolo: Statera fallax improbabilis apud Deum (Prov.

(Prov. 22, 14). The innocent, while he readily believes, quickly slips (Prov. 14, 15); yet this slip rises again: but the slanderer by his arts is precipitated headlong, whence he never may leap forth and escape. Let each one therefore weigh his discourses, not with fraud and guile: A fallacious balance is disapproved with God (Prov.

XI, 1): non illam stateram dico, quae mercem appendit alienam (et in vilibus quidem rebus caro constat fallacia) 758 sed statera verborum ipsa apud Deum est exsecrabilis, quae praetendit pondus gravitatis sobriae, et subnectit versutias fraudulentiae. Hoc maxime condemnat Deus, si decipiat aliquis proximum suum promissorum benignitate, et subdola iniquitate defeneratum opprimat, nihil sibi profuturus astutiae suae artibus. Quid enim prodest homini, si totius mundi capiat opes, animam autem suam vitae aeternae defraudet stipendio (Matth.

11, 1): I do not mean that balance which weighs another’s merchandise (and indeed in cheap things fraud proves dear) 758 but the balance of words itself is abominable with God, which puts forward the weight of sober gravity and subjoins the wiles of fraudulence. This God especially condemns: if someone deceives his neighbor by the benignity of promises, and oppresses one made a debtor by underhand iniquity, it will profit him nothing by the arts of his own astuteness. For what does it profit a man, if he should seize the wealth of the whole world, but defraud his own soul of the stipend of eternal life (Matt.

XVI, 26)?

16, 26)?

14. Alia piis mentibus consideranda statera, qua singulorum facta trutinantur, in qua plerumque ad judicium peccata propendunt, aut bene gesta peccatis praeponderant. Vae mihi, si praecedant flagitia, et ad mortis praejudicium lethali vergant pondere! Tolerabilius si subsequantur omnia tamen manifesta Domino: et ante judicium: nec bona possunt latere, nec ea quae plena sunt offensionis, abscondi (I Tim.

14. Another balance to be considered by pious minds, by which the deeds of individuals are weighed, in which very often toward judgment sins incline, or well-performed deeds outweigh sins. Woe to me, if the scandals go before, and with a lethal weight tilt toward the prejudgment of death! More tolerable if they follow after—yet all things are manifest to the Lord: and before the judgment: neither can good things lie hidden, nor those things which are full of offense be concealed (1 Tim.

V, 24).

5, 24).

15. Quam beatus qui radicem vitiorum resecare potuerit avaritiam! Is profecto stateram hanc non reformidabit. Avaritia enim plerumque sensus hebetat humanos, et pervertit opiniones (I Tim.

15. How blessed is he who has been able to cut off the root of vices—avarice! He indeed will not dread this balance. For avarice for the most part dulls human senses, and perverts opinions (1 Tim.

VI, 10); ut quaestum pietatem putent, et pecuniam quasi mercedem prudentiae. Merces autem magna pietatis est, et quaestus sobrietatis, habere quod usui est satis. Quid enim in hoc mundo prosunt divitiarum superflua; cum in iis et nulla adjumenta nascendi sint, nec impedimenta moriendi?

6, 10); so that they think piety to be a gain, and money as if the wage of prudence. But the great reward of piety is, and the gain of sobriety, to have what is sufficient for use. For what do the superfluities of riches profit in this world, since in them there are neither any aids of being born, nor impediments of dying?

Nam et sine integumento in hoc mundo nascimur, et sine viatico discedimus, sine haereditate sepelimur.

For we are born into this world without covering, and we depart without provisions for the journey, we are buried without inheritance.

16. Pendet singulis nostrorum stalera meritorum, atque exiguis vel boni operis, vel degeneris flagitii momentis huc atque illuc saepe inclinatur: si mala vergant, heu me! si bona, praesto est venia. Nemo enim a peccato immunis: sed ubi propendunt bona, elevantur peccata, obumbrantur, teguntur. Ergo in die judicii aut nostra opitulabuntur nobis opera, aut ipsa nos in profundum, tamquam molari depressos lapide, mergent.

16. The balance of our merits hangs for each one of us, and by slight moments either of a good work or of a degenerate disgrace it is often inclined hither and thither: if they lean to the evil, alas for me! if to the good, pardon is at hand. For no one is immune from sin: but when good things preponderate, sins are lifted up, are overshadowed, are covered. Therefore on the day of judgment either our works will help us, or they themselves will plunge us into the deep, as though pressed down by a millstone, and submerge us.

Gravis est enim, ut pote talento plumbeo suffulta, iniquitas; intolerabilis avaritia, atque omnis superbia, tetra fraudulentia (Zach. V, 7). Et ideo hortare plebem Domini sperare magis in Domino, abundare in divitiis simplicitatis, in quibus ambulet sine laqueo, sine impedimento (II Cor. VIII, 2).

For iniquity is heavy, as being, so to speak, propped by a leaden talent; avarice is intolerable, and all pride, foul fraudulence (Zech. 5, 7). And therefore exhort the people of the Lord to hope more in the Lord, to abound in the riches of simplicity, in which it may walk without a snare, without impediment (2 Cor. 8, 2).

17. Bona etiam puri sermonis sinceritas, et locuples apud Deum, etiam si inter laqueos ambulet; tamen quia alii nescit insidias aut vincula innectere, non alligatur.

17. Also good is the sincerity of pure discourse, and it is wealthy in the presence of God, even if it walks among snares; nevertheless, because it does not know how to weave ambushes or bonds for another, it is not bound.

18. Illud quoque praecipuum, si persuadeas ut noverint humiliari, sciant verum humilitatis colorem, naturam noverint. Multi habent humilitatis speciem, virtutem non habent: multi eam foris praetendunt, et intus impugnant: ad fucum praeferunt, ad veritatem abjurant, ad gratiam negant:Est enim qui nequiter humiliat se, et interiora ejus plena sunt doli (Eccl. XIX, 23). Et est qui se nimium submittit ab humilitate multa.

18. That too is preeminent, if you persuade them to know how to be humbled, to know the true color of humility, to know its nature. Many have the appearance of humility, they do not have the virtue: many display it outwardly, and within they assail it: they bring it forward for show, they abjure it with respect to truth, they deny it for the sake of favor:There is indeed one who wickedly humbles himself, and his inner parts are full of guile (Eccl. 19, 23). And there is one who submits himself too much out of much humility.

Non est ergo humilitas nisi sine fuco, sine fraude. Ipsa est vera, quae habet piam mentis sinceritatem (Rom. V, 19). Magna virtus ejus.

Therefore there is no humility except without pretense, without fraud. That is the true one, which has the pious sincerity of mind (Rom. 5, 19). Great is its virtue.

Denique per inobedientiam 759 unius hominis mors introivit, et per obedientiam unius Domini Jesu Christi facta est universorum redemptio.

Finally, through the disobedience of 759 one man death entered, and through the obedience of the one Lord Jesus Christ the redemption of all was effected.

19. Scivit humiliari sanctus Joseph, qui cum esset a fratribus in servitutem venditus, vel a negotiatoribus coemptus (Gen. XXXVII, 28), humiliatus in compedibus, ut Scriptura dicit (Psal. CIV, 18), virtutem humilitatis didicit, infirmitatem repudiavit.

19. Saint Joseph knew how to be humbled, who, when he had been sold into servitude by his brothers, or bought up by merchants (Gen. 37, 28), humbled in fetters, as Scripture says (Ps. 104, 18), learned the virtue of humility, repudiated infirmity.

Itaque (Gen. XXXIX, 1 et seq.) emptus in Aegypti partibus a servo regio, coquorum praeposito, non prosapiae nobilis conscientia, quasi germen Abrahamitarum, dedignatus obsequia vernacula, fastidivit degenerem conditionem: sed magis gnavum se et fidelem herili imperio praebuit, alto intendens consilio nihil interesse in quo statu quis probabilem se praestaret: sed illum esse finem bonorum, ut in quocumque statu probarentur; illudque praecipuum, si magis mores commendarent statum, quam status mores. Etenim quo status inferior, eo virtus eminentior.

And so (Gen. 39, 1 and following), purchased in the parts of Egypt by a royal servant, the prefect of the cooks, he did not, from a consciousness of noble lineage, as a scion of the Abrahamites, disdain domestic services or loathe a degenerate condition; but rather he showed himself industrious and faithful to his master’s command, aiming with lofty counsel that it makes no difference in what status a man presents himself as approved; but that this is the end of goods: that in whatever status they be approved; and this is principal, if morals commend the status more than the status commends the morals. For the lower the status, the more eminent the virtue.

Talem itaque se exhibebat, tam sedulum, ut ei dominus suus totam domum suam crederet, ipsi omnia committeret.

Accordingly he conducted himself of such a sort, so sedulous, that his master trusted to him his whole household, and committed everything to him personally.

20. Unde (Ibid., 7 et seq.) et uxor ejus oculos injecit in eum, capta formae venustate; nihil enim ad nos, si petulantibus oculis aut aetas expetitur, aut pulchritudo. Ars desit, nullum est crimen decoris: illecebra facessat, inoffensa est species, et formae gratia. Itaque percita atque animi furens interpellat juvenem, et cogente libidine, victa passionum stimulis crimen fatetur.

20. Whence (Ibid., 7 and seq.) even his wife cast her eyes upon him, captivated by the comeliness of his form; for it is nothing to us, if by petulant eyes either youth is sought, or pulchritude. If artifice is lacking, there is no crime in comeliness: let the allure withdraw, the appearance and the grace of form are inoffensive. And so, roused and raging in spirit she accosts the youth, and, lust compelling, overcome by the goads of passions she confesses the crime.

Verum ille abjurat flagitium, dicens nec moribus Hebraeorum convenire, nec legibus, ut alienum violent thorum, quibus cura est tuendi pudoris; ut integri nuptiarum integris socientur virginibus, nec ulli conveniant feminae, quae legitimi usus thori nesciat: religionemque sibi esse, ne ebrius turpis intemperantiae, ingratus herilis indulgentiae; cui obsequium deberet, ei gravem inferret contumeliam.

However, he abjures the flagitious deed, saying that it agrees neither with the customs of the Hebrews nor with the laws to violate another’s bed—by whom there is a care of guarding modesty; that those intact for marriage are to be joined to intact virgins, and that no woman is suitable who is ignorant of the lawful use of the bed; and that it is a matter of religion for him not to be, drunk with shameful intemperance, ungrateful for his master’s indulgence; that to him to whom he owed obedience he would be inflicting a grave contumely.

21. Numquid crubescebat illum vilem dominum tamen dicere, et se servum fateri? Quin etiam cum ambiret mulier, obsecraret etiam metu proditionis, vel amoris sui lacrymas funderet ad extorquendi necessitatem, nec misericordia flexus ad flagitii consensum, nec coactus metu, et precibus restitit, nec minis cessit, praeponens praemiis periculosam honestatem, quam turpem remunerationem casto pudori. Iterum quoque (Gen.

21. Did he perhaps blush to call that man, however base, his master, and to confess himself a servant? Nay rather, when the woman courted him, even besought him with the fear of betrayal, or shed the tears of her love to extort compliance, he was neither moved by mercy to a consent to the outrage, nor compelled by fear; he stood firm against entreaties, nor did he yield to threats, preferring to rewards a perilous honesty rather than a shameful remuneration to chaste modesty. Again also (Gen.

XXXIX, 11 et seq.) mulier majoribus adorsa tentamentis, cum inflexibilem adverteret, etiam secunda vice immobilem, passione effera et impudentia vires ministrante, juvenem aggreditur, veste apprehensa ad cubile trahens, complexum offerens: et pene ceperat, nisi exuisset Joseph vestem, qua tenebatur; ne exueret amictum humilitatis, indumentum pudoris.

39, 11 and following) the woman, having undertaken greater attempts, when she perceived him unbending, likewise unmoved a second time, with savage passion and impudence ministering strength, attacks the youth, seizing his garment and dragging him to the bed, offering an embrace: and she had nearly captured him, had not Joseph stripped off the garment by which he was being held; lest he strip off the cloak of humility, the raiment of modesty.

22. Scivit igitur humiliari, qui humiliatus est usque ad carcerem; et cum sustineret calumniam, maluit crimen falsum subire, quam verum referre. Scivit, inquam, humiliari, quia humiliabatur pro virtute. Humiliabatur in typo ejus, qui se erat humiliaturus usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis: qui venturus erat, ut vitam hanc de somno resuscitaret; et somnium760 esse hunc vivendi usum doceret, in quo diversae commutationum vices tamquam ebriae, et nihil solidum, nihil firmum, tamquam dormientis somnium videntes non videmus, et audientes non audimus, et manducantes non satiamur, gratulantes non gratulamur, currentes non pervenimus.

22. He knew, therefore, how to be humbled, who was humbled even unto prison; and while he was enduring calumny, he preferred to undergo a false charge rather than to report the truth. He knew, I say, how to be humbled, because he was being humbled for virtue. He was being humbled in the type of him who was going to humble himself unto death, even death of the cross: who was to come, so that he might rouse this life from sleep; and teach that this mode of living is a dream760, in which the diverse vicissitudes of changes are as if inebriate, and nothing solid, nothing firm; like the dream of one sleeping, seeing we do not see, and hearing we do not hear, and eating we are not satisfied, rejoicing we do not rejoice, running we do not arrive.

Vanae spes hominum in hoc saeculo, qui ea quae non sunt, tamquam quae sint, sequenda arbitrentur. Itaque inanes et vacuae rerum species tamquam in somnio venerunt, abierunt: astiterunt, evanuerunt. Circumfusae et dispersae sunt, teneri videntur, et non tenentur.

Vain are the hopes of men in this age, who deem that the things which are not, as though they were, are to be followed. And so the empty and void semblances of things, as in a dream, came, went: they stood, they vanished. They are diffused around and dispersed; they seem to be grasped, and are not held.

Denique ubi quis audivit dicentem: Surge qui dormis (Ephes. V, 11), et de saeculi istius somno exsurrexit, falsa haec intellexit omnia: evigilavit, et fugit somnium, fugit potestas, abiit cura patrimonii, formae venustas, honorum studium. Haec enim somnia sunt, quibus non moventur, qui vigilant corde: sed dormientes exagitantur.

Finally, when someone has heard the One saying: Awake, you who sleep (Eph. 5, 11), and has risen from the sleep of this age, he has understood all these things to be false: he has awakened, and the dream has fled, power has fled, the care for patrimony has departed, the comeliness of form, the pursuit of honors. For these are dreams, by which those who keep vigil in heart are not moved; but the sleeping are harried.

23. Vadatur hunc sermonem meum sanctus Joseph, non esse perpetua nec diuturna, quae sunt hujus saeculi, qui ab initio nobilis genere, censu dives, subito ignobilis servulus est, et (quod ipsam servitii vilitatem acerbat) degeneris domini aere emptum mancipium. Minus enim vile putatur servire libero: geminatur autem servitus ubi servitur vernaculis. Servus igitur ex genere praeclaro, pauper ex patre divite, de amore ad odium, de gratia ad supplicium: rursus de carcere ad aulam, de reatu ad judicium traductus; neque adversis fractus est, neque elevatus secundis (Gen.

23. Let Saint Joseph stand surety for this discourse of mine, that the things of this age are not perpetual nor long‑enduring: he who from the beginning was noble by birth, rich in census, is suddenly an ignoble little slave, and (which makes the very cheapness of servitude more bitter) a mancipium bought with the coin of a degenerate master. For it is thought less vile to serve a freeborn man; but servitude is doubled where one serves homeborn slaves. A slave, then, from a most distinguished stock, a pauper from a rich father, from love to hatred, from favor to punishment; again transferred from prison to the court, from indictment to judgment; and he was neither broken by adversities, nor lifted up by prosperities (Gen.

XLI, 39 et seq.).

41, 39 and following).

24. Astipulatur etiam momentarias esse vices rerum etiam sancti David frequenter variatus status, qui despectus patri, pretiosus Deo; triumpho nobilis, invidia vilis (I Reg. XVI, 11 et seq.), accitus ad ministerium regium, electus ad affinitatem (I Reg. XVIII, 2 et seq.), postremo faciem et ora mutatus, exsul regni, fugitans parricidii, nunc sua offendicula deplorabat, et rursus aliena removebat, conciliato haerede nobilior, quam decolorato (II Reg.

24. The frequently varied status of holy David also lends its support that the turns of affairs are momentary: who, despised by his father, precious to God; noble in triumph, vile in envy (1 Kings 16, 11 and following), called to royal service, chosen for affinity (1 Kings 18, 2 and following), finally with face and features altered, an exile from the kingdom, fleeing parricide; now he was lamenting his own stumbling-blocks, and again he was removing those of others; with the heir conciliated, more noble than with him discolored (2 Kings

XII, 1 et seq.) Expertus igitur omnia, pulchre dixit: Bonum mihi quod humiliatus sum (Psal. CXVIII, 71).

12, 1 et seq.) Having therefore experienced all things, he said beautifully: It is good for me that I was humbled (Ps. 118, 71).

25. Quamquam hoc et ad eum possit referri, qui cum esset in Dei forma, facilis inclinare coelos; descendit tamen, et formam servi accipiens nostras portavit infirmitates (Phil. II, 6): qui praevidens sanctos suos, non quasi rapinam sibi proprium honorem assumere; sed subjicere se aequalibus, et alios sibi anteferre, dixit:Bonum mihi est quod humiliatus sum. Bonum mihi est quod me subjeci; ut subjecta mihi sint omnia, et sit Deus omnia et in omnibus (I Cor. XV, 27, 28). Hanc infunde humilitatem singulorum animis, et te ipsum formam praebe omnibus, dicens: Imitatores mei estote, sicut et ego Christi (I Cor.

25. Although this can also be referred to him who, since he was in the form of God, was ready to incline the heavens; yet he descended, and taking the form of a servant he bore our infirmities (Phil. 2, 6): who, foreseeing his saints, not to assume as plunder a proper honor for himself, but to subject himself to equals, and to prefer others to himself, said:It is good for me that I was humbled. It is good for me that I subjected myself; so that all things might be subjected to me, and that God may be all things and in all (1 Cor. 15, 27, 28). Pour this humility into the souls of individuals, and present yourself as a form to all, saying: Become imitators of me, as I also am of Christ (1 Cor.

XI, 1).

11, 1).

26. Discant bonorum operum divitias quaerere, et morum esse locupletes. Pulchritudo divitiarum non in sacculis divitum, sed in alimentis pauperum est. In illis infirmis et egenis melius opes lucent.

26. Let them learn to seek the riches of good works, and to be wealthy in morals. The beauty of riches is not in the purses of the rich, but in the aliments of the poor. In those weak and needy, opulence shines more brightly.

Discant itaque pecuniosi non sua, sed ea quae sunt Christi, quaerere; ut illos et Christus requirat, ut illis sua largiatur. Impendit pro illis sanguinem suum (Rom. VIII, 32), effundit illis 761 Spiritum suum, offert illis regnum suum.

Let the pecunious therefore learn to seek not the things that are their own, but the things which are Christ’s; so that Christ too may seek them out, so that he may lavish his own upon them. He expended for them his blood (Rom. 8, 32), he pours out to them 761 his Spirit, he offers to them his kingdom.

Quid amplius dabit, qui se ipsum obtulit? Aut quid est quod non sit daturus Pater, qui pro nobis unicum Filium tradidit morti? Admone igitur illos servire Domino in sobrietate et gratia, tota mentis sedulitate erigere oculos ad coelestia, nihil ponere in lucro, nisi quod vitae aeternae sit; nam iste omnis hujus quaestus saeculi animarum dispendium est.

What more will he give, who offered himself? Or what is there that the Father will not give, who for us delivered up his Only Son to death? Admonish them, therefore, to serve the Lord in sobriety and grace, with the whole sedulity of mind to raise their eyes to the heavenly things, to set nothing down as gain except what pertains to eternal life; for all this gain-seeking of the age is the loss of souls.

Denique omnium detrimentum passus est (Phil. III, 8), qui volebat Christum lucrari: quod etsi mirabiliter dixerit, minus tamen expressit, quam acceperat. Hic enim de alienis locutus est, Christus autem dixit: Qui vult post me venire, abneget seipsum sibi (Luc.

Finally, he suffered the loss of all things (Phil. 3, 8), he who wished to gain Christ; which, even if he said it admirably, nevertheless he expressed less than he had received. For he spoke here about things belonging to others, but Christ said: Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself to himself (Luke.

IX, 23); ut ipse suum detrimentum sit, quo fiat lucrum Christi. Caduca haec omnia, cum damno, sine lucro: illud solum est lucrum, ubi fructus perpetuus, ubi aeternae merces quietis.

9, 23); so that he himself may be his own detriment, whereby there may be the lucre of Christ. These things are all caducous, with damage, without lucre: that alone is lucre, where the fruit is perpetual, where there is the eternal reward of rest.

27. Commendo tibi, fili, Ecclesiam, quae est ad Forum Cornelii, quo eam de proximo intervisas frequentius, donec ei ordinetur episcopus. Occupatus diebus ingruentibus quadragesimae, tam longe non possum excurrere.

27. I commend to you, son, the Church which is at Forum Cornelii, that you look in on it more frequently in the near term, until a bishop is ordained for it. Occupied with the impending days of Lent, I am not able to run out so far.

28. Habes illic Illyrios de mala doctrina Arianorum, cave eorum zizania: non appropinquent fidelibus, non serpant adulterina semina: advertant quid propter suam perfidiam acciderit sibi, quiescant, ut veram fidem sequantur. Difficile quidem imbuti animi infidelitatis venenis abolere possunt impietatis suae glutinum; si tamen in iis virus infaustum inoleverit, nec facile iis credendum putes. Nervi enim sunt, et quidam artus sapientiae, non temere credere, maxime in causa fidei, quae raro perfecta est in hominibus.

28. You have there Illyrians from the evil doctrine of the Arians; beware their tares: let them not approach the faithful, let adulterine seeds not creep in: let them take heed what has happened to them on account of their perfidy; let them be quiet, that they may follow the true faith. Minds, indeed, imbued with the poisons of infidelity can with difficulty efface the glue of their impiety; if, however, the ill‑omened virus has taken root in them, do not think they are easily to be believed. For it is the sinews and, as it were, certain joints of wisdom, not to believe rashly, especially in the cause of faith, which is rarely perfect in human beings.

29. Tamen si quis est, qui licet suspectae sit infirmitatis, et nutantis affectus, purgare habitam de se opinionem velit, permitte ut satisfecisse se putet, indulge aliquantulum; cujus enim excluditur satisfactio, avertitur animus. Nam etiam medendi periti cum vident notas aegritudines, ut ipsi appellant, medicinam quidem non adhibent; sed tamen medicinae tempus exspectant: nec deserunt invalidum, sed lenioribus verbis, aut quibus possunt, palpant delinimentis; ne aut intermissa aegritudo desperatione animi gravescat, aut crudior medicinam762 respuat: eo quod ad maturitatem pervenire nequeat, si indigestae insolens rerum hujusmodi medicus adhibeat manus. Siquidem et pomum cum immaturum exagitatur, cito deperit.

29. Nevertheless, if there is anyone who, although of suspected infirmity and a wavering affect, wishes to purge the opinion held about himself, allow him to think he has made satisfaction, indulge a little; for he whose satisfaction is excluded has his spirit averted. For even practitioners of medicine, when they see noted illnesses, as they themselves call them, do not apply a remedy at once; rather they await the time for medicine: nor do they desert the invalid, but with more lenient words, or with whatever lenitives they can, they soothe with blandishments; lest either the intermitted sickness grow more grave through desperation of mind, or the cruder reject the medicine762: for it cannot arrive at maturity, if an insolent physician apply his hands to matters of this sort while they are undigested. Indeed, even a fruit, when it is agitated while unripe, quickly perishes.

30. Et quia de agro exemplum sumpsimus, praecipe illis inviolata confinii servare jura, paternos custodire terminos, quos Lex tuetur. Supra fraternam charitatem frequenter est vicini gratia (Deut. XIX, 14); ille enim saepe longe, hic in proximo est, vitae omnis testis, conversationis arbiter.

30. And since we have taken an example from the field, instruct them to keep the laws of the boundary inviolate, to guard the paternal boundary-stones, which the Law protects. Above brotherly charity frequently is the neighbor’s favor (Deut. 19, 14); for that one is often far away, this one is nearby, a witness of one’s whole life, an arbiter of conduct.

Delectet eum per finitima spatia laxari liberum pecus, et in herba viridi projectum secura captare otia.

Let it delight him that the free herd be loosed to range through the neighboring spaces, and, cast upon the green grass, to seize carefree leisure.

31. Servos quoque dominus jure servitii subditos habeat pro moderamine coercitionis, quasi animae consortes. Paterfamilias enim dicitur, ut quasi filios regat; quoniam et ipse Dei servus est, et patrem appellat Dominum coeli, moderatorem potestatum omnium. Vale et nos dilige, ut facis; quia nos te diligimus.

31. Let the master also have the slaves, subjected by the right of servitude, under control with a moderation of coercion, as consorts of the soul. For he is called paterfamilias, that he may rule them as if sons; since he himself is a servant of God, and calls the Lord of heaven “Father,” the moderator of all powers. Farewell, and love us as you do; for we love you.

Maxima cum reverentia in Christo,
Oscarius

With the greatest reverence in Christ,
Oscarius

GRATIANI AD AMBROSIUM EPISTOLA

EPISTLE OF GRATIAN TO AMBROSE

AMBROSIUM ad se invitat, ut se in fide de Filii ac Spiritus sancti divinitate confirmet. Librum etiam petit, cui et alium de Spiritu sancto jungi postulat.

AMBROSE he invites to himself, so that he may confirm him in the faith concerning the divinity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He also asks for a book, to which he further requests that another, on the Holy Spirit, be joined.

AMBROSIO religioso sacerdoti omnipotentis Dei GRATIANUS AUGUSTUS.

TO AMBROSE, a religious priest of almighty God, GRATIAN AUGUSTUS.

1. Cupio valde ut quem recordor absentem, et cum quo mente sum, cum eo etiam corpore sim praesenti. Festina igitur ad me, religiose Dei sacerdos, ut doceas doctrinam vere credentem: non quod contentioni studeam, aut velim magis Deum verbis quam mente complecti; sed ut magis aperto pectori revelatio divinitatis insidat.

1. I desire greatly that he whom I recall as absent, and with whom I am in mind, I may be with him also in body as present. Hasten therefore to me, religious priest of God, that you may teach doctrine to one truly believing: not that I strive for contention, or wish rather to embrace God with words than with mind; but that the revelation of divinity may the more settle upon an open breast.

2. Docebit enim me ille, quem non nego, quem fateor Deum ac Dominum esse meum, non ei objiciens, quam in me video, creaturam, qui Christo nihil me addere posse confiteor; velle tamen ut etiam Patri me commendem, Filium praedicando Non ego in Deo verebor invidiam: non me talem laudatorem putabo, qui divinitatem verbis augeam. Ego infirmus et fragilis, quantum possum, praedico: non quantum est ipsa divinitas.

2. For he will teach me, him whom I do not deny, whom I confess to be God and my Lord, not objecting to him the creature which I see in myself, I who confess that I can add nothing to Christ; nevertheless wishing that I may also commend myself to the Father by preaching the Son. I will not fear envy in God: I will not think myself such a laudator as to augment the divinity by words. I, infirm and fragile, proclaim as much as I am able: not as much as the divinity itself is.

3. Rogo te ut mihi des ipsum tractatum, quem dederas, augendo illic de Spiritu sancto fidelem752 disputationem: Scripturis atque argumentis Deum esse convincas. Divinitas te servet per multos annos, parens, et cultor Dei aeterni, quem colimus, Jesu Christi.

3. I beg you to give me that very treatise which you had given, augmenting there a faithful752 disputation about the Holy Spirit: by the Scriptures and by arguments you should convict that He is God. May Divinity preserve you through many years, parent, and a worshipper of the eternal God, whom we worship, Jesus Christ.

EPISTOLA X.

EPISTLE 10.

Imperatoribus de synodi convocatione gratias agit; qui ad eam convenerint, exponit; haereticorum tergiversationem, blasphemias ac pervicaciam memorat; tandem implorat fidem imperatorum, ut et eorum auctoritate exsecutioni mandentur concilii decreta, et alii nonnulli haeretici coerceantur.

He gives thanks to the emperors for the convocation of the synod; he sets forth who have assembled at it; he recounts the heretics’ tergiversation, blasphemies, and pervicacity; at length he implores the faith of the emperors, that by their authority also the decrees of the council be committed to execution, and that certain other heretics be coerced.

Imperatoribus clementissimis et christianis, beatissimisque principibus GRATIANO, VALENTINIANO et THEODOSIO, sanctum Concilium quod convenit Aquileiae.

To the most clement and Christian emperors, and most blessed princes GRATIAN, VALENTINIAN, and THEODOSIUS, the holy Council which has convened at Aquileia.

1. Benedictus Deus Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui vobis Romanum imperium dedit, et benedictus Dominus noster Jesus Christus unigenitus Dei Filius, qui regnum vestrum sua pietate custodit, apud quem gratias agimus vobis, clementissimi principes, quod et fidei vestrae studium probavistis, qui ad removendas altercationes congregare studuistis sacerdotale Concilium, et episcopis dignatione vestra honorificentiam reservastis; ut nemo deesset volens, nemo cogeretur invitus.

1. Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave to you the Roman empire, and blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, who by his piety guards your kingdom, before whom we give thanks for you, most clement princes, because you have also proved the zeal of your faith, you who have been eager to gather a sacerdotal Council to remove altercations, and by your dignation have reserved honorificence to the bishops; so that no one willing was lacking, no one unwilling was compelled.

2. Itaque juxta mansuetudinis vestrae praeceptum convenimus sine invidia multitudinis, et cum affectu disceptationis: nec ulli de haereticis episcopi sunt reperti, nisi Palladius et Secundianus, nomina vetustae perfidiae, propter quos congregari concilium postulabant de extrema orbis parte Romani. Ecce nullus senectutis807 gravatus annis, cujus vel sola esset reverenda canities, de ultimo sinu maris Oceani venire compulsus est, et concilio nihil defuit: nullus debile corpus trahens, jejuniorum stipendiis oneratum, itineris est coactus injuria fortitudinis amissae damna deflere; nullus postremo pauperiem in sacerdotibus gloriosam subsidio veniendi destitutus ingemuit. Unde completum est in te, clementissime principum Gratiane, quod Scriptura divina laudavit: Beatus qui intelligit super egenum et pauperem (Psal.

2. And so, according to the precept of your mildness, we have convened without the envy of the multitude, and with an affection for disputation: nor were any of the heretical bishops found, except Palladius and Secundianus, names of age‑old perfidy, on account of whom the Romans were demanding that a council be gathered from the farthest part of the world. Behold, no one weighed down by the years of old age, whose very white hair alone would be venerable, was compelled to come from the uttermost bay of the Ocean sea, and nothing was lacking to the council: no one, dragging a feeble body, burdened with the exactions of fastings, was forced by the injury of the journey to bewail the damages of fortitude lost; no one, finally, in that poverty—glorious in priests—groaned as destitute of the subsidy for coming. Whence it has been fulfilled in you, most clement of princes, Gratian, that which divine Scripture praised:Blessed is he who understands concerning the needy and poor (Psal. 807).

XL, 2).

40, 2).

3. Quam vero grave fuisset propter duos tantum in perfidia cariosos sacerdotes toto orbe essent Ecclesiae summis sacerdotibus destitutae! Qui etiamsi venire propter prolixitatem itineris nequiverint, tamen omnes prope ex omnibus provinciis occidentalibus, missis adfuere legatis, et attestationibus evidentibus id se tenere, quod nos asserimus, et in tractatu Nicaeni congruere concilii designarunt, sicut subjecta declarant. Ubique ergo nunc pro vestro imperio concinunt vota populorum, nec tamen arbitrio vestro fidei assertores defuerunt.

3. How truly grievous it would have been that, on account of only two priests rotted-through in perfidy, the Churches throughout the whole world should have been deprived of their supreme priests! Who, even if they were unable to come because of the prolixity of the journey, nevertheless almost all from all the western provinces were present by delegates sent, and by evident attestations declared that they hold that which we assert, and indicated that they agree in the tractate of the Nicene council, as the subjoined make clear. Everywhere, therefore, now the vows of the peoples sound together for your imperium, nor, however, have champions of the faith been lacking to your arbitration.

Nam licet evidentia essent praescripta majorum, a quibus impium est et sacrilegum deviare; tamen disceptandi obtulimus facultatem.

For although the prescriptions of the elders were evident, from which it is impious and sacrilegious to deviate; nevertheless we offered the faculty of disputation.

4. Ac primo principium ipsum obortae discussimus quaestionis, atque Arii epistolam putavimus esse recitandam, qui auctor Arianae haeresis invenitur, unde et haeresis nomen accepit; ea videlicet et gratia, ut quoniam Arianos se negare consueverant, Arii blasphemias aut incusando damnarent, aut astruendo defenderent, aut certe non recusarent nomen ejus, cujus impietatem perfidiamque sequerentur. Sed quia auctorem suum nec damnare poterant, nec probare volebant; cum ipsi ad disceptandum ante triduum provocassent loco et tempore constituto, non exspectata conventione, prodiissent, subito qui dixerant se quia christiani essent facile probaturos (quod nos libenter accepimus, et optavimus ut probarent), fugere congressum illico et disceptationem declinare coeperunt.

4. And first we discussed the very beginning of the question that had arisen, and we thought that the epistle of Arius ought to be recited, who is found to be the author of the Arian heresy, whence also the heresy took its name; namely also for this purpose, that since they were accustomed to deny that they were Arians, they might either, by accusing, condemn the blasphemies of Arius, or, by establishing, defend them, or at least not refuse the name of him whose impiety and perfidy they followed. But because they could neither condemn their author nor were willing to approve him; although they themselves, three days before, had challenged to disceptation, with place and time appointed, with the convention not awaited they had come forward; suddenly those who had said that, because they were Christians, they would easily prove it (which we gladly accepted, and we wished that they would prove), began immediately to flee the congress and to decline the disceptation.

5. Multus tamen nobis cum his sermo fuit, propositae divinae in medio Scripturae, disceptandi de primo ortu diei in horam septimam copia data, delata patientia. Atque utinam pauca dixissent, vel certe quae audivimus, possemus abolere! Nam sacrilegis vocibus cum Arius solum Patrem sempiternum, solum bonum, solum verum Deum, solum immortalitatem habentem, solum sapientem, solum808 potentem dicendo, expertem horum Filium impia commonitione voluisset intelligi; isti Arium potius sequi, quam sempiternum Deum Dei Filium, et verum Deum, et bonum Deum, et sapientem, et potentem, et immortalitatem habentem voluerunt fateri.

5. Yet we had much discourse with them, the divine Scriptures set forth in the midst, with liberty granted for disputation about the first rising of the day until the seventh hour, patience extended. And would that they had said but few things, or at least that we could abolish the things we heard! For with sacrilegious voices—since Arius, by saying “only the Father sempiternal, only good, only the true God, only having immortality, only sapient, only808 potent,” by an impious admonition wished the Son to be understood as without a share in these things—these men preferred to follow Arius rather than to confess the Son of God as the sempiternal God, and the true God, and the good God, and sapient, and potent, and having immortality.

Multas horas frustra consumpsimus. Crescebat illorum impietas, nec corrigi ullo poterat modo.

We consumed many hours in vain. Their impiety was increasing, nor could it be corrected by any means.

6. Denique cum viderent se Arii epistolae sacrilegiis perurgeri (quam ideo subdidimus, ut eam etiam vestra clementia perhorresceret), resilientes de media epistolae lectione, petierunt ut eorum propositis responderemus. Quamquam non esset ordinis neque rationis, ut proposita interrumperemus; responsumque esset a nobis ut damnarent Arii impietates, et de quibus vellent, ordine, locoque servato, eorum intentionibus responderemus: tamen acquievimus praeposterae voluntati. Ibi tum Evangelii scripta falsantes, proposuerunt nobis, dixisse Dominum: Qui me misit, major me est; cum aliter scriptum doceat series Scripturarum.

6. Finally, when they saw themselves to be hard-pressed by the sacrileges of Arius’s epistle (which for that reason we subjoined, so that your clemency also might shudder at it), recoiling from the middle of the reading of the epistle, they asked that we respond to their propositions. Although it was neither of order nor of reason that we interrupt the propositions; and an answer had been given by us that they should condemn Arius’s impieties, and that, concerning whatever they wished, with order and place maintained, we would respond to their intentions: nevertheless we acquiesced to their preposterous will. Thereupon, falsifying the writings of the Gospel, they proposed to us that the Lord had said: He who sent me is greater than I; whereas the series of the Scriptures teaches that it is written otherwise.

7. Redarguti de falsitate sunt, ut faterentur; nec tamen ratione correcti. Nam cum diceremus secundum carnis susceptionem minorem Patre suo Filium dici, secundum divinitatem autem pro testimoniis Scripturarum parem Patri et aequalem probari, nec posse ibi esse discretionis gradus alicujus, aut magnitudinis, ubi esset unitas potestatis; non solum illi noluerunt emendare errorem, sed etiam vesaniam augere coeperunt, ut et subjectum secundum divinitatem dicerent Filium, quasi ulla Dei secundum divinitatem et majestatem suam possit esse subjectio. Mortem denique ejus non ad sacramentum nostrae salutis, sed ad infirmitatem quamdam divinitatis referunt.

7. They were refuted for falsity, to the point that they confessed; yet they were not corrected by reason. For when we said that, according to the assumption of flesh, the Son is said to be lesser than his Father, but according to divinity, on the testimonies of the Scriptures, he is proved equal to the Father and coequal, and that there cannot be there any degree of distinction or of magnitude where there is unity of power; not only were they unwilling to amend the error, but they even began to augment the madness, so that they said the Son was subject according to divinity, as if there could be any subjection of God according to his divinity and his majesty. Finally, they refer his death not to the sacrament of our salvation, but to a certain infirmity of divinity.

8. Horremus, clementissimi principes, tam dira sacrilegia, pravosque doctores; et ne ulterius populos deciperent quos tenebant, sacerdotio putavimus abdicandos; quoniam subditi libelli impietatibus concinebant. Neque enim dignum est ut ejus sacerdotium sibi vindicent, quem negarunt. Vestram fidem, vestram gloriam deprecamur, ut reverentiam imperii vestri deferatis auctori, censeatisque impietatis assertores, et adulteros veritatis, datis apicibus clementiae vestrae ad judicia competentia, ab Ecclesiae arcendos esse liminibus, et ut in damnatorum locum per nostrae parvitatis legatos sancti subrogentur sacerdotes.

8. We shudder, most clement princes, at such dread sacrileges and depraved teachers; and lest they further deceive the peoples whom they held, we judged that they must be abdicated from the priesthood, since the submitted libelli were in concert with impieties. For it is not fitting that they claim for themselves the priesthood of him whom they denied. We implore your faith, your glory, that you render the reverence of your empire to the Author, and that you deem the assertors of impiety and the adulterers of truth, by rescripts of your clemency addressed to the competent judgments, to be barred from the thresholds of the Church, and that in the place of the condemned, through the legates of our smallness, holy priests be subrogated.

9. Attalum quoque presbyterum de praevaricatione confessum, et Palladii sacrilegiis inhaerentem,809 parilis sententia comprehendit. Nam quid de magistro ejus Juliano Valente dicamus? qui cum esset proximus, declinavit sacerdotale concilium; ne eversae patriae, proditorumque civium praestare causas sacerdotibus cogeretur.

9. Attalus also, a presbyter, confessed of prevarication and adhering to the sacrileges of Palladius,809 a like sentence encompassed. For what shall we say of his master Julian Valens? who, although he was nearest, declined the sacerdotal council; lest he be compelled to furnish reasons to the priests for the overthrown fatherland and for the traitor citizens.

Qui etiam torquem, ut asseritur, et brachiale, Gothica profanatus impietate, more indutus gentilium, ausus sit in conspectu exercitus prodire Romani: quod sine dubio non solum in sacerdote sacrilegium, sed etiam in quocumque christiano est; etenim abhorret a more Romano. Nisi forte sic solent idololatrae sacerdotes prodire Gothorum.

Who also, as it is asserted, with a torc and an armlet, profaned by Gothic impiety, clad in the manner of the gentiles, dared to go forth in the sight of the Roman army: which without doubt is not only sacrilege in a priest, but also in any Christian; for it is abhorrent to Roman custom. Unless perchance idololater priests of the Goths are wont to go forth thus.

10. Moveat pietatem vestram sacerdotale nomen, quod ille sacrilegus infamat; qui etiam suorum vocibus, si qui tamen superesse possunt, nefandi sceleris arguitur. Certe domum repetat suam, non contaminet florentissimae Italiae civitates, qui nunc illicitis ordinationibus consimiles sui sociat sibi, et seminarium quaerit suae impietatis atque perfidiae per quosque perditos derelinquere; qui episcopus esse nec coepit. Nam primo Patavione superpositus fuerat sancto viro Marco, admirabilis memoriae sacerdoti; sed posteaquam deformiter dejectus a plebe est, qui Patavione esse non potuit, is nunc Mediolani post eversionem patriae, dicamus proditionem, inequitavit.

10. Let the sacerdotal name move your piety, which that sacrilegious man defames; who also by the voices of his own—if any, however, can still survive—is accused of a nefarious crime. Surely let him return to his own home, let him not contaminate the cities of most flourishing Italy, he who now by illicit ordinations associates to himself men similar to himself, and seeks to leave behind a seminary of his impiety and perfidy through whatever reprobates; one who did not even begin to be a bishop. For at first at Padua he had been set over the holy man Mark, a priest of admirable memory; but after he was shamefully cast down by the people, he who could not be at Padua, that man now has ridden into Milan after the overthrow of the fatherland—let us say, treason.

11. Super omnibus ergo pietas vestra nobis consulere dignetur; ne nos obtemperantes vestrae tranquillitatis statutis, frustra convenisse videamur. Non solum enim cavendum est, ne nostra, sed etiam vestra decreta infamentur. Petimus igitur ut legatos concilii, sanctos viros aeque clementia vestra audire dignetur, et cum effectu eorum quae poscimus, maturius redire praecipiat; ut mercedem recipiatis a Domino Deo Christo, cujus ecclesias ab omni sacrilegorum labe purgastis.

11. Therefore, above all things, may your piety deign to take counsel for us; lest we, obeying the statutes of your tranquility, seem to have met in vain. For we must beware not only lest our decrees, but also yours, be defamed. We therefore petition that your clemency likewise deign to hear the legates of the council, holy men, and that it command them to return more promptly with the effect of the things which we request; so that you may receive the reward from the Lord God Christ, whose churches you have purged from every stain of the sacrilegious.

12. Photinianos quoque, quos et superiori lege censuistis nullos facere debere conventus, et eam quae de sacerdotum concilio data est congregando, removistis; petimus, ut quoniam in Sirmiensi oppido adhuc conventus tentare cognovimus, clementia vestra, interdicta etiam nunc coitione, reverentiam primum Ecclesiae810 catholicae, deinde etiam legibus vestris deferri jubeatis; ut et vos, Deo praesule, triumphetis, qui paci Ecclesiarum quietique consulitis.

12. The Photinians also, whom by a prior law you have judged ought to make no assemblies, and you have abrogated that measure which was issued for convening the council of priests; we ask that, since we have learned that in the town of Sirmium they still attempt assemblies, by your clemency, with the gathering even now interdicted, you order that reverence be rendered first to the Catholic Church810, then also to your laws; so that you too, with God presiding, may triumph, you who take counsel for the peace and quiet of the Churches.

EPISTOLA XI.

LETTER 11.

Imperatoribus, quid in synodo actum fuerit, significant; eosque monent, ne Ursinum sibi patiantur obrepere, ipsum turbarum auctorem, nec non infami crimine accusatum asservantes. Rogant denique ut Romani cleri, ac simul omnium incolumitati prospiciant.

They signify to the emperors what was done in the synod; and they warn them not to allow Ursinus to creep in upon them, he himself the author of tumults, moreover maintaining that he is accused of an infamous crime. Finally, they ask that they provide for the safety of the Roman clergy, and at the same time of all.

Imperatoribus clementissimis, et principibus christianis, gloriosissimis ac beatissimis GRATIANO, VALENTINIANO, et THEODOSIO Concilium quod convenit Aquileiae.

To the most clement Emperors, and to the Christian princes, most glorious and most blessed, GRATIAN, VALENTINIAN, and THEODOSIUS, the Council which convened at Aquileia.

1. Provisum est quidem, clementissimi principes, vestrae tranquillitatis statutis, ne Arianorum perfidia possit ulterius vel latere, vel serpere; etenim effectum concilii decretis putamus minime defuturum: nam quantum ad partes spectat occidentis, duo tantum reperti sunt, qui auderent profanis et impiis vocibus obviare concilio, vix angulum Ripensis Daciae turbare consueti.

1. It has indeed been provided, most clement princes, by the statutes of your tranquillity, that the perfidy of the Arians can further neither lurk nor creep; for we think that the effect will by no means be lacking to the decrees of the council: for, as far as regards the parts of the Occident, only two were found who would dare with profane and impious voices to oppose the council, scarcely accustomed to trouble even a corner of Dacia Ripensis.

2. Aliud est quo magis angimur, de quo, quoniam convenimus, fuit rite tractandum; ne posset totum corpus Ecclesiae toto orbe diffusum, et universa turbare. Nam licet frequenter convenerimus Ursinum non potuisse obrepere pietati vestrae (quamvis quietum nihil esse patiatur, et inter tot bellicas necessitates obreptio importuna tentetur), tamen ne sancta mens vestra, animique tranquillitas, quae omnibus consulere gestit, importuni hominis simulata adulatione flectatur, deprecandos vos et obsecrandos, si dignanter ducitis, aestimamus, non solum praecaventes futura, sed etiam praeterita, quae jam ipsius temeritate gesta sunt, perhorrescentes. Nam si aliquam viam nactus fuerit audaciae, quid non ille confundat?

2. There is another matter by which we are more anguished, which, since we have convened, was duly to be handled; lest the whole body of the Church, diffused through the whole orb, be able to be disturbed, and all things thrown into turmoil. For although we have frequently agreed that Ursinus could not creep upon your piety (although he allows nothing to be quiet, and amid so many bellicose necessities an inopportune obreption is attempted), nevertheless, lest your holy mind and tranquillity of spirit, which longs to take counsel for all, be bent by the simulated adulation of an importunate man, we judge that you are to be implored and besought, if you deem it worthy, not only forestalling future things, but also shuddering at the past things which have already been done by his rashness. For if he should find any road for his audacity, what would he not confound?

3. Sed si unius miseratio vos inflectere potest, multo magis vos precatio omnium moveat sacerdotum. Quis enim nostrum ei communionis societate jungetur, cum indebitum sibi gradum usurpare conatus sit, nec jure ad eum potuerit pervenire; et quem importune affectavit, importunissime811 repetere moliatur? Turbarum toties damnatus, incedit adhuc quasi praeteritis non perhorrescendus exemplis.

3. But if the pity of one can bend you, much more let the supplication of all the priests move you. For who of us will be joined to him by the society of communion, since he has attempted to usurp for himself an undue grade, nor could he by right have attained to it; and what he importunately aspired to, he is most importunately811 striving to demand again? Condemned so many times for tumults, he still goes about as though the past examples were not to be shuddered at.

Qui plerumque (sicut in hoc concilio cognovimus, et vidimus) cum Arianis copulatus atque conjunctus erat eo tempore, quo turbare Mediolanensem Ecclesiam coetu detestabili moliebatur cum Valente: nunc ante Synagogae fores, nunc in Arianorum domibus miscens occulta concilia, et suos eis jungens; et quoniam ipse aperte in eorum congregationes prodire non poterat, instruens et informans quemadmodum pax Ecclesiae turbaretur: quorum furore respirabat, quod eorum posset fautores et socios emereri.

Who for the most part (as in this council we have learned and have seen) was coupled and conjoined with the Arians at the time when he was endeavoring to disturb the Church of Milan by a detestable assembly together with Valens: now before the doors of the Synagogue, now in the houses of the Arians, mixing secret councils, and joining his own to them; and since he himself could not openly go forth into their congregations, instructing and informing how the peace of the Church might be disturbed: from whose fury he drew breath, in that he could earn their favorers and associates.

4. Cum igitur scriptum sit:Haereticum post unam correptionem devita (Tit. III, 10); cum et alius vir sancto locutus Spiritu, dixerit declinandas hujusmodi bestias, nec salutatione recipiendas (II Joan. 10), neque congressu: quomodo fieri potest, ut eum quem societati eorum insertum vidimus, non etiam assertorem perfidiae judicemus?

4. Since therefore it is written:Avoid a heretic after one correction (Tit. 3, 10); since also another man, speaking by the Holy Spirit, has said that beasts of this sort are to be shunned, and not to be received by salutation (2 John 10), nor with a meeting: how can it come to pass that him whom we have seen inserted into their society we do not also judge an assertor of perfidy?

Quid etiam si deforet? tamen totius orbis Romani caput Romanam Ecclesiam, atque illam sacrosanctam Apostolorum fidem, ne turbari sineret, obsecranda fuit clementia vestra; inde enim in omnes venerandae communionis jura dimanant. Et ideo petimus et rogamus ut obrependi ei adimere dignemini facultatem.

What even if it were lacking? nevertheless your clemency had to be besought that it should not allow the Roman Church—the head of the whole Roman world—and that sacrosanct faith of the Apostles to be disturbed; for from there the rights of the venerable communion flow forth to all. And therefore we petition and entreat that you deign to take away from him the means of insinuating himself into it.

5. Scimus clementiae vestrae sanctum pudorem; ne auditu vestro indigna ingerat, non aliena ab officio et nomine sacerdotis interstrepat, non inverecunda vobis loquatur: quem cum habere oportuerit testimonium etiam ab his qui foris sunt (I Tim. III, 7), quali testimonio et cives proprii prosecuti sunt, clementia vestra meminisse dignetur. Pudet enim dicere, inverecundum est recensere quam turpis fama ejus convicio sauciaverit.

5. We know the sacred modesty of your clemency; let it not allow things unworthy of your hearing to be thrust upon you, let not what is alien to the office and name of a priest make a din, let it not speak shameless things to you: he who ought to have had a testimony even from those who are outside (1 Tim. 3, 7), deign, your clemency, to remember with what testimony even his own fellow citizens have attended him. For it shames one to say, it is shameless to recount, how a base report has wounded him with reviling.

Quo saltem pudore constrictus conticescere debuisset; et si haberet aliquam conscientiam sacerdotis, pacem Ecclesiae, concordiamque ambitioni suae et studio praeoptaret. Verum longe alienus ab omni verecundia, per abscissum hominem Paschasium, signiferum furoris sui, missis litteris, serit turbas, gentiles 812 quosque ac perditos homines concitare conatur.

Bound by such shame at least, he ought to have fallen silent; and if he had any priestly conscience, he would prefer the peace of the Church and concord to his own ambition and party-spirit. But, far alien from all modesty, through the cut-off man Paschasius, the standard-bearer of his frenzy, by sending letters he sows disturbances, and tries to incite pagans 812 and all manner of profligate men.

6. Oramus igitur, ut jam et populo Romano, qui post relationem praefecti Urbis pendet incertus, et nobis sacerdotibus securitatem interdictam importunissimi hominis abjectione tribuatis. Quo impetrato, apud Deum omnipotentem Patrem, et Christum et Dominum Deum gratias jugi continuatione celebremus.

6. We therefore pray that now both to the Roman people, who after the report of the Prefect of the City hangs uncertain, and to us priests you may grant the security that has been interdicted, by the casting off of the most importunate man. This obtained, before God the Omnipotent Father, and Christ and the Lord God, let us celebrate thanksgivings with unbroken continuance.

EPISTOLA XII.

EPISTLE 12.

Aguntur imperatoribus gratiae ob restitutam Ecclesiae tranquillitatem, eisdemque episcoporum preces promittuntur. Tum nuntiatis quibusdam catholicorum discidiis, rogantur iidem principes, ut Alexandriae jubeant coire concilium, cui et auxilium suum impendere non dedignentur, magnum episcopis collaturi beneficium.

Thanks are rendered to the emperors for the tranquility of the Church restored, and the prayers of the bishops are promised to those same. Then, certain dissensions of the Catholics having been reported, the same princes are asked to order a council to assemble at Alexandria, and not to disdain to expend their aid upon it, thereby about to confer a great benefit upon the bishops.

Imperatoribus clementissimis christianisque, et gloriosis, beatissimisque principibus GRATIANO, VALENTIANO, et THEODOSIO sanctum Concilium quod convenit Aquileiae.

To the most clement and Christian emperors, and the glorious and most blessed princes, GRATIAN, VALENTINIAN, and THEODOSIUS, the holy Council which has convened at Aquileia.

1. Quamlibet etiam redundantibus gratiarum actionibus, nequaquam tamen possumus beneficia vestrae pietatis aequare, imperatores clementissimi, atque beatissimi et gloriosissimi principes Gratiane, Valentiniane et Theodosi dilecti Deo Patri, et Filio ejus Domino nostro Jesu Christo. Nam cum post multa tempora, et persecutiones varias, quas Catholicis intulerunt Ariani, maximeque [vel Lucius ille monachorum et virginum impia caede grassatus, sed etiam Demophilus dirum perfidiae caput, omnes Ecclesiae Dei, maxime quae per Orientem, Catholicis restitutae sint: in Occidentalibus autem partibus vix duo haeretici, qui obviare possint sancto concilio, sint reperti; quis est qui putet se gratiarum vestrarum fore idoneum relatorem?

1. Although even with overflowing thanksgivings, nevertheless we are by no means able to equal the benefactions of your piety, most clement emperors, and most blessed and most glorious princes Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius, beloved by God the Father, and by His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. For whereas after much time, and various persecutions which the Arians inflicted upon the Catholics, and especially [or that Lucius, who raged with impious slaughter of monks and virgins, but also Demophilus, the dire head of perfidy], all the Churches of God, especially those throughout the East, have been restored to the Catholics: but in the Western parts scarcely two heretics, who could oppose the holy council, have been found; who is there who would deem himself an adequate relator of the thanks owed to you?

2. Sed tamen etsi beneficia vestra verbis explicare non possumus, votis tamen concilii compensare desideramus: qui licet per singulas quasque ecclesias quotidianas apud Deum nostrum pro imperio vestro celebremus excubias; tamen conducti in unum, quo munere813 nihil esse pulchrius opinamur, Deo nostro omnipotenti et pro imperio, et pro pace ac salute vestra gratias agimus, quod per vos nobis pax et concordia ita sit refusa.

2. But nevertheless, even if we cannot explicate your benefactions in words, yet we desire to compensate them with the vows of the council: we, although through each and every church we celebrate daily vigils before our God for your Imperium; yet, gathered into one, a service than which we think nothing more beautiful,813 we give thanks to our omnipotent God both for the Empire, and for your peace and welfare, because through you peace and concord have thus been restored to us.

3. Equidem per Occidentales partes duobus in angulis tantum, hoc est, in latere Daciae Ripensis, ac Moesiae, fidei obstrepi videbatur: quibus tandem nunc post concilii sententiam, vestrae favore clementiae opinamur illico consulendum. Per omnes autem tractus atque regiones, et vicorum claustra usque ad oceanum manet una et intemerata fidelium communio. In Orientalibus autem partibus cognovimus quidem summo gaudio atque laetitia, ejectis Arianis qui Ecclesias violenter invaserant, sacra Dei templa per solos catholicos frequentari.

3. Indeed through the Occidental parts only in two corners, that is, on the side of Riparian Dacia and of Moesia, it seemed that the faith was being drowned out by clamor: for which, at length now after the sentence of the council, by the favor of your clemency we think that immediate provision must be made. But through all tracts and regions, and the enclosures of villages even to the ocean, there remains one and undefiled communion of the faithful. But in the Oriental parts we have learned, with the highest joy and gladness, that, the Arians who had violently invaded the Churches having been cast out, the sacred temples of God are frequented by Catholics alone.

4. Sed tamen quoniam invidia diaboli numquam quiescere solet, inter ipsos catholicos audimus crebras dissensiones esse, impacatamque discordiam; totoque confundimur affectu, quod innovata pleraque comperimus, eosque gravari nunc, quos oportuit adjuvari, qui in nostra semper communione durabant. Denique Alexandrinae Ecclesiae Timotheus episcopus, sed et Antiochenae Paulinus, qui semper communionis nobiscum intemeratam habuere concordiam, dissensionibus aliorum, quorum fides superioribus temporibus haesitabat, feruntur urgeri. Quos quidem, si fieri potest, et fides plena commendat, ad consortia nostra optamus adjungi: sed ita ut vetustae communionis sociis sua praerogativa servetur, quorum nobis non superflua cura est: primo omnium, quia communionis societas nullam debet habere offensam: deinde, quia utriusque partis dudum accepimus litteras, praecipueque illorum, qui in Antiochena Ecclesia dissidebant.

4. Yet, since the envy of the devil is never wont to rest, we hear that among the very Catholics there are frequent dissensions, and an unpacified discord; and we are altogether confounded in our affect, because we have found that many things have been innovated, and that those are now burdened whom it was fitting to be helped, who always endured in our communion. Finally, Timothy, bishop of the Alexandrian Church, and also Paulinus of the Antiochene, who always held with us an untainted concord of communion, are reported to be pressed by the dissensions of others, whose faith in former times was wavering. Whom indeed, if it can be done, full faith commends, we desire to be joined to our consortship: but in such wise that to the associates of the ancient communion their own prerogative be preserved, for whom our care is not superfluous: first of all, because the society of communion ought to have no offense; then, because we have long since received letters from both parties, and especially from those who were dissenting in the Church of Antioch.

5. Et quidem nisi hostilis impedimento fuisset irruptio, aliquos etiam de nostro numero disposueramus illo dirigere, qui sequestres et arbitri refundendae, si fieri posset, pacis existerent. Sed quia studia nostra tunc temporis habere effectum per tumultus publicos nequiverunt, oblatas pietati vestrae opinamur preces nostras, quibus juxta partium factum poposcimus ut altero decedente, penes superstitem Ecclesiae jura permanerent, nec aliqua superordinatio vi attentaretur. Ideoque petimus vos, clementissimi et christiani principes, ut et Alexandriae sacerdotum catholicorum omnium concilium fieri censeatis, qui inter se plenius tractent atque definiant quibus impertienda communio quibusque servanda sit.

5. And indeed, unless a hostile incursion had been an impediment, we had arranged to dispatch some even from our own number there, who might be sequestrators and arbiters for the restoring of peace, if it could be done. But because our endeavors at that time were unable to have effect through public tumults, we consider our petitions offered to your Piety, in which, given the action of the parties, we asked that, with one of the two withdrawing, the rights of the Church should remain with the survivor, and that no superordination should be attempted by force. And therefore we beg you, most clement and Christian princes, that you also deem that a council of all the catholic priests be held at Alexandria, who among themselves may more fully discuss and define to whom communion should be imparted and for whom it should be withheld.

8146. Nam etsi Alexandrinae Ecclesiae semper dispositionem ordinemque tenuerimus, et juxta morem consuetudinemque majorum, ejus communionem indissolubili societate ad haec usque tempora servemus; tamen ne aut aliqui videantur esse posthabiti, qui etiam pacto, quod stare volumus, communionem nostram rogarunt: aut illius pacis et societatis fidelium neglecta compendia; id obsecramus, ut cum inter se coetu pleniore tractaverint, etiam auxilia decretis sacerdotalibus vestrae pietatis aspirent. Et nobis deferri in notitiam censeatis; ne titubanti nutemus affectu, sed laeti atque securi pietati vestrae apud Deum omnipotentem agamus gratias, non solum quia exclusa perfidia est, sed quia catholicis fides et concordia est restituta. Quod a vobis Africanae et Gallicanae Ecclesiae per legatos obsecrant, hoc est, ut toto vobis faciatis in orbe episcopos debitores; licet non mediocre sit debitum, quod virtuti vestrae debetur.

8146. For even if we have always held the disposition and order of the Alexandrian Church, and, according to the custom and consuetude of the elders, preserve its communion by an indissoluble society down to these times; nevertheless, lest either some seem to have been set after—who also, by the pact which we wish to stand, have requested our communion—or the advantages of that peace and fellowship of the faithful be neglected; this we beseech, that when they shall have dealt among themselves in a fuller gathering, the aids of your piety also may breathe upon the sacerdotal decrees. And deem that it be conveyed into our notice; that we may not waver with a tottering affection, but, glad and secure, may give thanks for your piety before Almighty God, not only because perfidy has been excluded, but because for the catholics faith and concord has been restored. That which the African and Gallican Churches beseech from you through legates is this: that you make bishops in the whole world debtors to you; although the debt which is owed to your virtue is no mediocre one.

7. Ad deprecandam autem clementiam vestram, et impetranda quae poscimus, legatos fratres et compresbyteros nostros direximus, quos petimus ut et clementer audire dignemini, et redire maturius censeatis.

7. Moreover, to deprecate your clemency and to impetrate the things we ask, we have sent legates, our brothers and fellow-presbyters, whom we beg that you deign both to hear graciously and to judge should return the more speedily.

EPISTOLA XIII.

EPISTLE 13.

Actis Theodosio gratiis de restitutis in basilicas orthodoxis, et dolore suo propter Ecclesiae turbas significato, episcopum Antiochiae mortuo Meletio subrogatum queritur: et ut Nectarius Constantinopoli post Maximum ordinatus loco cedat, vel de utriusque ordinatione in synodo Romae pronuntietur, petit.

Thanks having been given to Theodosius for the restoration of the orthodox to the basilicas, and his sorrow on account of the Church’s tumults having been signified, he complains that, Meletius being dead, a bishop of Antioch was subrogated in his place; and he petitions that Nectarius, ordained at Constantinople after Maximus, yield the place, or that a pronouncement concerning the ordination of both be made in a synod at Rome.

Beatissimo Imperatori, et clementissimo principi THEODOSIO, AMBROSIUS et caeteri episcopi Italiae.

To the most blessed Emperor, and most clement Prince THEODOSIUS, AMBROSE and the other bishops of Italy.

1. Sanctum animum tuum Deo omnipotenti pura et sincera fide deditum sciebamus: sed recentibus cumulasti beneficiis, quod catholicos Ecclesiis reddidisti, Imperator Auguste. Atque utinam catholicos ipsos reverentiae veteri reddidisses, ut nihil novarent contra praescripta majorum, nec temere vel servanda rescinderent, vel rescindenda servarent. Itaque dolentius forte quam inconsultius ingemiscimus, Imperator, facilius expelli potuisse haereticos, quam inter catholicos convenire.

1. We knew that your holy mind was devoted to God Almighty with pure and sincere faith: but you have heaped up recent benefactions, in that you restored the Catholics to the Churches, Emperor Most August. And would that you had restored the Catholics themselves to their ancient reverence, so that they might innovate nothing against the prescriptions of the elders, nor rashly either rescind things to be observed, or preserve things to be rescinded. And so, Emperor, we groan perhaps more sorrowfully than incautiously, that heretics could more easily have been driven out than that agreement be found among the Catholics.

Quanta enim nuper confusio facta sit, explicari non potest.

For how great a confusion has recently arisen cannot be explained.

2. Scripseramus dudum, ut quoniam Antiochena civitas duos haberet episcopos, Paulinum atque Meletium, quos fidei concinere815 putabamus, aut inter ipsos pax et concordia salvo ordine ecclesiastico conveniret: aut certe, si quis eorum. altero superstite, decessisset, nulla subrogatio in defuncti locum, superstite altero, gigneretur. At nunc Meletio defuncto, Paulino superstite, quem in communione nostra mansisse consortia, quae a majoribus inoffense ducta, testantur, contra fas atque ecclesiasticum ordinem in locum Meletii, non tam subrogatus, quam superpositus asseritur.

2. We had written some time ago that, since the city of Antioch had two bishops, Paulinus and Meletius, whom we supposed to harmonize in faith815, either peace and concord should be agreed between them with the ecclesiastical order preserved; or certainly, if any one of them, the other surviving, had departed, no subrogation into the place of the deceased, with the other surviving, should be generated. But now, with Meletius deceased and Paulinus surviving—whom the partnerships, carried on without offense by the elders, attest to have remained in our communion—contrary to divine right and to ecclesiastical order, there is asserted into the place of Meletius not so much a subrogate as one superposed, set over him.

3. Atque hoc factum allegatur consensione et consilio Nectarii, cujus ordinatio quem ordinem habuerit, non videmus. Namque in concilio nuper, cum Maximus episcopus Alexandrinae Ecclesiae communionem manere secum, lectis Petri sanctae memoriae viri litteris, prodidisset; ejusque intra privatas aedes, quia Ariani Ecclesiae basilicas adhuc tenebant, secretum esse, mandatoribus episcopis ordinantibus, dilucida testificatione docuisset, nihil habuimus, beatissime principum, in quo de episcopatu ejus dubitare possemus; cum vim sibi repugnanti a plerisque etiam de populo et clero testatus esset illatam.

3. And this deed is alleged by the consensus and counsel of Nectarius, whose ordination—what order it had—we do not see. For indeed, recently in council, when Maximus, bishop of the Alexandrian Church, had disclosed, the letters of Peter, a man of holy memory, having been read, that communion remained with him; and had shown with clear testification that it was conducted in secret within private houses, because the Arians still held the basilicas of the Church, the mandating bishops ordaining, we had nothing, most blessed of princes, on account of which we could doubt his episcopate; since he had attested that violence, he resisting, had been inflicted upon him by very many even of the people and of the clergy.

4. Tamen ne, absentibus partibus, praesumpte aliquid definisse videremur, clementiam tuam, datis litteris, putavimus instruendam; ut ei consuleretur ex usu publicae pacis atque concordiae; quia revera advertebamus Gregorium nequaquam secundum traditionem patrum, Constantinopolitanae Ecclesiae sibi sacerdotium vindicare. Nos igitur in synodo ea, quae totius orbis816 episcopis videbatur esse praescripta, nihil temere statuendum esse censuimus. Adeo ipso tempore qui generale concilium declinaverunt, Constantinopolique gessisse dicuntur; nam cum cognovissent ad hoc partium venisse Maximum ut causam in synodo ageret suam (quod etiamsi indictum concilium non fuisset, jure et more majorum, sicut et sanctae memoriae Athanasius, et dudum Petrus, Alexandrinae Ecclesiae episcopi, et Orientalium plerique fecerunt; ut ad Ecclesiae Romanae, Italiae, et totius Occidentis confugisse judicium viderentur); cum eum, sicut diximus, experiri velle adversum eos, qui episcopatum ejus abnuerant, comperissent; praestolari utique etiam nostram super eo sententiam debuerunt.

4. Nevertheless, lest, with the parties absent, we should seem to have presumptuously defined anything, we thought that your clemency should be instructed by letters sent; so that counsel might be taken for it according to the utility of public peace and concord; because in truth we observed Gregory by no means, according to the tradition of the fathers, to vindicate to himself the sacerdotal office of the Church of Constantinople. We therefore, in synod, judged that nothing should be determined rashly in those matters which seemed to be prescribed to the bishops of the whole world816. So much so that at that very time those who declined a general council are said to have transacted matters at Constantinople; for when they had learned that Maximus had come for this, on behalf of his party, to plead his cause in synod (which, even if a council had not been convoked, by right and the custom of the forefathers, just as Athanasius of holy memory and formerly Peter, bishops of the Alexandrian Church, and very many of the Orientals did, so that they might seem to have fled for refuge to the judgment of the Roman Church, of Italy, and of the whole West); when they had discovered that he, as we said, wished to try the case against those who had refused his episcopate, they surely ought to have awaited even our judgment upon it.

Non praerogativam vindicamus examinis, sed consortium tamen debuit esse communis arbitrii.

We do not claim the prerogative of examination, but nevertheless there ought to have been a consortium of common arbitration.

5. Postremo prius constare oportuit, utrum huic abrogandum, quam alii conferendum sacerdotium videretur; ab his praesertim, a quibus se Maximus vel destitutum, vel appetitum injuria querebatur. Itaque cum Maximum episcopum receperunt in communionem nostra consortia, quoniam eum a catholicis constitit episcopis ordinatum, nec ab episcopatus Constantinopolitani putavimus petitione removendum. Cujus allegationem praesentibus partibus aestimavimus esse pendendam.

5. Lastly, it ought first to have been established whether this man’s priesthood was to be abrogated before it should be conferred upon another; especially by those from whom Maximus complained that he had either been deserted or wrongfully assailed. And so, when our fellowship received Maximus the bishop into communion, since it was established that he had been ordained by catholic bishops, we did not think he should be removed from his petition for the episcopate of Constantinople. Whose allegation we judged to be held in suspense until the parties were present.

Nectarium autem cum nuper nostra mediocritas Constantinopoli cognoverit ordinatum, cohaerere communionem nostram cum Orientalibus partibus 817 non videmus; praesertim cum ab iisdem Nectarius dicitur illico sine communionis consortio destitutus, a quibus fuerat ordinatus.

However, since our modesty has lately learned at Constantinople that Nectarius was ordained, we do not see our communion to cohere with the Eastern parts 817; especially since Nectarius is said by those same people to have been forthwith deprived of the consortium of communion, by whom he had been ordained.

6. Non mediocris igitur hic scrupulus. Nec quaedam nos angit de domestico studio et ambitione contentio, sed communio soluta et dissociata perturbat. Nec videmus eam posse aliter convenire; nisi aut is reddatur Constantinopoli, qui prior est ordinatus: aut certe super duorum ordinatione sit in urbe Roma nostrum Orientaliumque concilium.

6. No moderate scruple, therefore, is here. Nor does some contention from domestic zeal and ambition vex us, but a communion loosened and dissociated disturbs. Nor do we see that it can otherwise come to agreement; unless either he be restored at Constantinople who was ordained earlier: or certainly, concerning the ordination of two, let there be in the city of Rome our council and that of the Orientals.

7. Neque enim indignum videtur, Auguste, ut Romanae Ecclesiae antistitis, finitimorumque et Italorum episcoporum debeant subire tractatum, qui unius Acholii episcopi ita exspectandum esse putaverunt judicium, ut de Occidentalibus partibus Constantinopolim evocandum putarent. Si quid uni huic reservatum est, quanto magis pluribus reservandum est!

7. For neither does it seem unworthy, Augustus, that the matter of the prelate of the Roman Church, and of the neighboring and Italian bishops, ought to undergo discussion, they who thought that the judgment of the one bishop Acholius must be awaited to such a degree that they thought he should be called to Constantinople from the Occidental parts. If anything has been reserved to this one, how much more ought it to be reserved to several!

8. Nos autem a beatissimo principe fratre tuae pietatis admoniti, ut tuae clementiae scriberemus imperio; postulamus ut ubi una communio est, commune velit esse judicium, concordantemque consensum.

8. But we, having been admonished by the most blessed prince, the brother of your piety, to write by command to your clemency; we request that, where there is one communion, the judgment be common, and the consensus concordant.

EPISTOLA XIV.

LETTER 14.

THEODOSIO quod restituendae inter orientalem atque occidentalem Ecclesiam unitati operam dedisset, commendato, episcopi cur de ea re superiorem scripserint epistolam, exponunt: addunt curae etiam sibi fuisse ut fautores Apollinaris condemnarentur: postremo nec se Concilium petendo injuriam cuipiam intulisse, nec a majorum instituto usquam defecisse asserunt.

TO THEODOSIUS — commended because he had given effort to restoring unity between the Eastern and Western Church — the bishops set forth why they have written the earlier letter about that matter: they add that it was also their care that the supporters of Apollinaris be condemned: finally, they assert that neither by requesting a Council did they inflict injury on anyone, nor did they anywhere depart from the institution of the elders.

Beatissimo imperatori, et clementissimo principi THEODOSIO, AMBROSIUS et caeteri episcopi Italiae.

To the most blessed emperor, and most clement prince THEODOSIUS, AMBROSE and the other bishops of Italy.

1. Fidei tuae diffusa toto orbe cognitio intimum nostrae mentis demulsit affectum; eoque, ut haec quoque gloria tuo imperio crearetur, quod unitatem reddidisse Occidentalium juxta atque Orientalium Ecclesiis videreris, clementiam tuam obsecrandam pariter, ac super Ecclesiasticis negotiis instruendam nostris litteris aestimavimus, Imperator tranquillissime ac fidelissime. Dolori enim erat inter Orientales atque Occidentales interrupta sacrae communionis esse consortia.

1. The knowledge of your faith, diffused through the whole orb, has soothed the inmost affection of our mind; and therefore, that this glory also might be created for your empire, that you seem to have restored unity to the Churches of the Westerners as well as the Easterners, we judged that your clemency ought likewise to be besought, and to be instructed by our letters concerning ecclesiastical affairs, Emperor most tranquil and most faithful. For it was a grief that between Easterners and Westerners the consortia of sacred communion had been interrupted.

2. Silemus jam quorum errore, quorumve delicto, ne serere fabulas et alloquia cassa videamur. Nec nos tentasse poenitet, quod intentatum caderet in culpam. Isto enim saepe arguebamur, quod posthabere Orientalium societatem, et refutare gratiam videremur.

2. We now keep silence as to whose error, or whose delict, lest we seem to sow fables and empty colloquies. Nor do we regret to have attempted, since what left unattempted would fall into blame. For on this account we were often charged, that we seemed to postpone the society of the Orientals and to refute grace.

8183. Laborem quin etiam nobis indicendum putavimus, non pro Italia, quae jamdudum ab Arianis quieta atque secura est, nec ulla haereticorum perturbatione vexatur: non, inquam, pro nobis; quia non quaerimus quae nostra sunt, sed quae sunt omnium: non pro Gallia atque Africa, quae omnium sacerdotum concordi societate potiuntur; sed ut ea quae communionem nostram de Orientis parte turbaverunt, cognoscerentur in synodo, et omnis e medio scrupulus tolleretur.

8183. We even thought the labor was to be undertaken by us, not for Italy, which long since has been quiet and secure from the Arians, nor is vexed by any perturbation of heretics: not, I say, for ourselves; because we do not seek the things that are ours, but the things that are everyone’s: not for Gaul and Africa, which enjoy the concordant society of all the priests; but in order that those things which have disturbed our communion from the Eastern side might be recognized in a synod, and every scruple be taken away from the midst.

4. Non solum enim de his de quibus clementia tua dignata est scribere, sed etiam de illis, qui dogma nescio quod, Apollinaris asseritur, in Ecclesiam conantur inducere, nos pleraque moverunt, quae partibus fuerant resecanda praesentibus; ut convictus in dogmate novo, et redargutus in errore, nequaquam sub generali fidei lateret nomine: sed illico, quod doctrinae magisterio non teneret, et officium deponeret, et vocabulum sacerdotis; nec fibrae aliquae posthac fallere cupientibus, et praestigiarum commenta remanerent. Nam qui convictus non fuerit praesentibus partibus, quod vere augusto principalique responso tua clementia definivit,referendam semper ansulam quaestionis arripiet.

4. For not only concerning those about whom your clemency has deigned to write, but also concerning those who are trying to introduce into the Church some dogma—I know not what—asserted to be of Apollinaris, we were moved by many considerations, which had to be cut away by the parties present; so that, once convicted in the new dogma and refuted in his error, he would by no means lie hidden under the general name of the faith: but straightway, whoever did not hold by the magisterium of doctrine would lay down both the office and the appellation of priest; nor would any threads henceforth remain for those eager to deceive, nor the inventions of sleights-of-hand. For he who shall not have been convicted with the parties present, as your clemency has truly defined by an august and imperial rescript,referendam will always seize a little handle for the question.

5. Eo igitur obsecravimus sacerdotale concilium, ut nemini liceret mendacium in absentem componere, et in concilio discuteretur quid esset in vero. Itaque non cadit in eos intentionis vel facilitatis ulla suspicio, qui omnia praesentibus partibus observarunt.

5. Therefore we besought the sacerdotal council that it be permitted to no one to compose a falsehood against one absent, and that in the council it be examined what the truth was. And so no suspicion of intention or of credulity attaches to those who observed everything with the parties present.

6. Sane allegata texuimus, non definiendi, sed instruendi gratia: et qui judicium petivimus, non deferimus praejudicium. Neque ullum eorum aestimandum convicium fuit, cum rogarentur ad concilium sacerdotes, quorum frequenter praesentior absentia fuit, quando in commune consuluit. Neque enim vel nos aestimavimus esse convicium, cum unus Constantinopolitanae Ecclesiae presbyter, Paulus nomine, intra Achaiam synodum Orientalium juxta atque Occidentalium postulaverit.

6. Truly we have woven together the things alleged, not for the sake of defining but of instructing; and we who sought a judgment do not deliver a prejudgment. Nor was any of these to be reckoned an insult, when priests were summoned to the council—whose absence was frequently more present—when it took counsel in common. For neither did we ourselves consider it an insult, when one presbyter of the Church of Constantinople, by the name Paul, within Achaia requested a synod of the Orientals as well as the Occidentals.

7. Advertit clementia tua non fuisse irrationabile postulatum, quod etiam ab orientalibus est petitum. Sed quia Illyrici suspecta movetur, ideo maritima ac tutiora quaesita sunt. Neque plane nos tamquam ex forma aliquid innovavimus: sed sanctae memoriae Athanasii, qui quasi columen fidei fuit, et veteris sanctitatis patrum nostrorum in conciliis definita servantes, non evellimus terminos, quos posuerunt patres nostri; nec haereditariae communionis819 jura violamus: sed debitam vestro imperio honorificentiam reservantes, studiosos nos pacis et quietis ostendimus.

7. Your clemency has noticed that the petition was not irrational, since it has also been requested by the Orientals. But because suspicions are stirred about Illyricum, therefore maritime and safer places were sought. Nor indeed have we innovated anything as though by a formula; but, preserving the definitions in councils of Athanasius of holy memory, who was as it were a column of the faith, and of the ancient sanctity of our fathers, we do not uproot the boundaries which our fathers set; nor do we violate the rights of hereditary communion819; but, reserving the due honorificence to your empire, we show ourselves zealous for peace and quiet.

EPISTOLA XVII.

EPISTLE 17.

Imperatorum esse religionem tueri: nec ab eis instaurationem superstitionis postulandam. Nullam ergo illorum habendam rationem a quibus quidpiam contra fidei christianae decus flagitatur. Falso petitionem senatus nomine oblatam esse, cum ei christiani senatores non consenserint.

It is for emperors to safeguard religion; nor should an instauration of superstition be demanded from them. Therefore no consideration is to be had of those by whom anything is demanded against the honor of the Christian faith. A petition has been falsely presented in the name of the senate, since the Christian senators did not consent to it.

De hoc referri oportere ad Theodosium, et ad episcopos: Valentinianum, si privilegia infidelibus concesserit, ab Ecclesia rejiciendum, sed et fratris ac patris memoriae irrogaturum injuriam, de qua graviter expostulantes, inducuntur.

That this ought to be referred to Theodosius and to the bishops: that Valentinian, if he grants privileges to infidels, must be rejected by the Church, but that he would also be inflicting an injury upon the memory of his brother and father, on account of which, remonstrating gravely, they are ushered in.

AMBROSIUS episcopus beatissimo principi, et christianissimo imperatori VALENTINIANO.

AMBROSE bishop to the most blessed prince, and most Christian emperor VALENTINIAN.

1. Cum omnes homines, qui sub ditione Romana sunt, vobis militent imperatoribus, terrarum atque principibus, tum ipsi vos omnipotenti Deo et sacrae fidei militatis. Aliter enim salus tuta esse non poterit, nisi unusquisque Deum verum, hoc est, Deum christianorum, a quo cuncta reguntur, veraciter colat; ipse enim solus verus est Deus, qui intima mente veneretur:Dii enim gentium daemonia, sicut Scriptura dicit (Psal. XCV, 5).

1. Since all men who are under Roman dominion do military service for you, the emperors and the princes of the lands, so you yourselves do military service for the Omnipotent God and for the sacred Faith. For otherwise safety cannot be secure, unless each person truly worship the true God, that is, the God of the Christians, by whom all things are governed; for He Himself alone is the true God, who is to be venerated with the inmost mind: for thegods of the nations are demons, as Scripture says (Psal. 95, 5).

2. Huic igitur Deo vero quisquis militat, et qui intimo colendum recipit affectu, non dissimulationem, non conniventiam, sed fidei studium et devotionis impendit. Postremo si non ista, consensum saltem aliquem non debet colendis idolis, et profanis ceremoniarum cultibus exhibere. Nemo enim Deum fallit, cui omnia etiam cordis occulta manifesta sunt.

2. Therefore whoever serves as a soldier for this true God, and who receives Him as to be worshiped with inmost affection, expends not dissimulation, not connivance, but zeal of faith and devotion. Finally, if not these, at least he ought not to exhibit any consent to the worship of idols, and to the profane cults of ceremonies. For no one deceives God, to whom all things, even the hidden things of the heart, are manifest.

3. Ergo cum a te, Imperator christianissime, fides Deo vero sit exhibenda, cum ipsius fidei studium, cautio atque devotio, miror quomodo aliquibus in spem venerit, quod debeas aras diis gentium tuo instaurare praecepto, ad usus quoque sacrificiorum profanorum praebere sumptum; quod enim jamdudum vel fisco vel arcae est vindicatum, de tuo magis conferre videbere, quam de suo reddere.

3. Therefore, since by you, most Christian Emperor, faith is to be exhibited to the true God, together with the zeal, caution, and devotion of that very faith, I marvel how some have come to hope that you ought to restore altars to the gods of the nations by your command, and also to provide expense for the uses of profane sacrifices; for what has long since been claimed either for the fisc or for the coffer, you will seem rather to contribute from your own than to render from what is its own.

4. Et de dispendiis queruntur, qui numquam nostro sanguini pepercerunt, qui ipsa Ecclesiarum aedificia subruerunt. Petunt etiam ut illis privilegia deferas, qui loquendi et docendi nostris communem usum Juliani lege proxima denegarunt, et privilegia illa, quibus saepe decepti sunt etiam christiani: nonnullos enim illis privilegiis partim per imprudentiam, partim propter publicarum necessitatum molestias declinandas irretire voluerunt; et quia non omnes fortes inveniuntur, etiam sub principibus christianis plerique sunt lapsi.

4. And they complain of expenditures, they who never spared our blood, who undermined the very buildings of the Churches. They also ask that you defer privileges to them, they who by the most recent law of Julian denied to our people the common use of speaking and teaching; and those privileges by which even Christians have often been deceived: for by those privileges they wished to ensnare some, partly through imprudence, partly in order to avoid the annoyances of public necessities; and because not all are found strong, even under Christian princes many have lapsed.

3. Sed haec si jam sublata non essent, auferenda tuo imperio comprobarem: at cum per825 totum fere orbem a pluribus retro principibus inhibita interdictaque sint, Romae autem a fratre clementiae tuae, augustae memoriae Gratiano, fidei verae ratione sublata sint, et datis antiquata rescriptis; ne quaeso, vel fideliter statuta convellas, vel fraterna praecepta rescindas. De negotiis civilibus, si quid statuit, nemo putat esse temerandum; et praeceptum de religione calcatur.

3. But if these things had not already been removed, I would approve that they be taken away by your imperium: but since through825 almost the whole world they have been inhibited and interdicted by many former princes, and at Rome by the brother of your clemency, Gratian of august memory, they were removed by the rationale of the true faith, and the earlier rescripts were rendered obsolete by rescripts that were issued; do not, I beg, either tear down what has been faithfully established, or rescind fraternal precepts. In civil affairs, if he enacted anything, no one thinks it ought to be tampered with; and yet the precept concerning religion is trampled underfoot.

6. Nullus obrepat juniori aetati tuae: sive ille gentilis est, qui ista deposcit, non debet mentem tuam vinculis suae superstitionis innectere: sed proprio studio docere et admonere te debet, quemadmodum verae fidei studere debeas; quando ille tanto motu veri vana defendit. Deferendum meritis clarorum virorum et ego suadeo: sed Deum certum est omnibus praeferendum.

6. Let no one steal upon your younger age: whether he be a gentile who demands these things, he ought not to bind your mind with the chains of his superstition: but by his own zeal he ought to teach and admonish you how you ought to be studious of the true faith; since he, with so great a commotion about truth, defends vain things. Deference to the merits of illustrious men I also advise: but it is certain that God is to be preferred before all.

7. Si de re militari est consulendum, debet exercitati in praeliis viri exspectari sententia, consilium comprobari: quando de religione tractatus est, Deum cogita. Nullius injuria est, cui Deus omnipotens antefertur. Habet ille sententiam suam.

7. If counsel is to be taken about military affairs, the opinion of a man exercised in battles ought to be awaited, the counsel to be approved; when the discussion is about religion, think on God. It is an injury to no one that Almighty God is preferred. He has his own opinion.

Invitum non cogitis colere, quod nolit; hoc idem vobis liceat, Imperator, et unusquisque patienter ferat, si non extorqueat imperatori, quod moleste ferret, si ei extorquere cuperet imperator. Ipsis gentilibus displicere consuevit praevaricantis affectus; libere enim debet defendere unusquisque fidele mentis suae et servare propositum.

You do not compel the unwilling to revere what he does not wish; let this same be permitted to you, Emperor, and let each person bear it patiently, provided he does not extort from the emperor what he himself would take ill, were the emperor to wish to extort it from him. Even to the gentiles the prevaricating disposition is wont to be displeasing; for each ought freely to defend the fidelity of his mind and to keep his purpose.

8. Quod si aliqui nomine christiani tale aliquid decernendum putant, mentem tuam vocabula nuda non capiant, nomina cassa non fallant. Quisquis hoc suadet, sacrificat, et quisquis hoc statuit: tolerabilius tamen est unius sacrificium, quam lapsus omnium. Totus hic christianorum periclitatur senatus.

8. But if some, under the name of Christians, think that something of this sort is to be decreed, let naked words not capture your mind, let empty names not deceive you. Whoever urges this sacrifices, and whoever establishes this: nevertheless the sacrifice of one is more tolerable than the lapse of all. The whole senate of Christians is endangered here.

9. Si hodie gentilis aliquis, Imperator, quod absit, aram statueret simulacris, et eo convenire cogeret christianos; ut sacrificantibus interessent, ut oppleret anhelitus et ora fidelium cinis ex ara, favilla de sacrilegio, fumus ex busto: et in ea curia sententiam diceret, ubi jurati ad aram simulacri in sententiam cogerentur (propterea enim interpretantur aram locatam, ut ejus sacramento, ut ipsi putant, unusquisque conventus consuleret in medium, cum majore jam curia christianorum numero sit referta), persecutionem esse crederet christianus, qui cogeretur tali optione ad senatum venire:826 quod fit plerumque; nam et injuriis convenire coguntur. Te ergo imperatore, christiani in aram jurare cogentur? Quid est jurare, nisi ejus quem testaris fidei tuae praesulem, divinam potentiam confiteri?

9. If today some pagan, Emperor, which heaven forbid, were to set up an altar for images, and were to force christians to assemble there; so that they might be present to the sacrificers, so that ash from the altar, cinder from sacrilege, smoke from the pyre might choke the breath and mouths of the faithful: and he should give his vote in that curia where, sworn at the altar of the image, they would be compelled into a decision (for they interpret the altar as placed for this reason, that by its sacrament, as they themselves suppose, each convoked body might deliberate in common, since the curia is now crammed with a greater number of christians), a christian who was compelled by such an alternative to come to the senate would deem it persecution:826 which for the most part happens; for they are even forced to assemble by injuries. Therefore, with you as emperor, will christians be compelled to swear upon the altar? What is it to swear, except to confess the divine potency of him whom you testify to be the head of your faith?

Te imperatore, hoc petitur et postulatur; ut aram jubeas elevari, sumptum sacrificiis profanis dari?

With you as emperor, this is asked and demanded; that you order an altar to be raised, that expense be given for profane sacrifices?

10. Sed hoc non potest sine sacrilegio decerni; unde rogo te ne id decernas, statuas, vel in ejusmodi decreta subscribas. Convenio fidem tuam Christi sacerdos: omnes conveniremus episcopi, nisi incredibile hoc et repentinum ad aures pervenisset hominum, quod tale aliquid esset vel in consistorio suggestum tuo, vel a senatu petitum. Sed absit ut hoc senatus petisse dicatur: pauci gentiles communi utuntur nomine.

10. But this cannot be decreed without sacrilege; whence I beg you not to decree it, to establish it, nor to subscribe to decrees of this kind. I, a priest of Christ, appeal to your faith: we bishops would all convene, had not this incredible and sudden thing come to the ears of men—that something of this sort had either been suggested in your consistory or requested by the senate. But far be it that the senate be said to have sought this: a few gentiles make use of the common name.

Nam et ante biennium ferme, cum hoc petere tentarent, misit ad me sanctus Damasus Romanae Ecclesiae sacerdos, judicio Dei electus, libellum quem christiani senatores dederunt, et quidem innumeri, postulantes nihil se tale mandasse, non congruere gentilium istiusmodi petitionibus, non praebere consensum: questi etiam publice privatimque se non conventuros ad curiam, si tale aliquid decerneretur. Dignum est temporibus vestris, hoc est, christianis temporibus, ut dignitas christianis senatoribus abrogetur; quo gentilibus profanae deferatur voluntatis effectus? Hunc libellum ego fratri clementiae vestrae direxi; unde constitit non senatum aliquid de superstitionis impensis mandasse legatis.

For indeed about two years earlier, when they were attempting to seek this, Saint Damasus, priest of the Roman Church, chosen by the judgment of God, sent to me the libellus which the Christian senators had given—indeed in countless numbers—asserting that they had issued no such mandate, that petitions of this sort from the gentiles were not congruent, that they did not offer consent; complaining also, publicly and privately, that they would not assemble at the curia if something of this kind were decreed. Is it worthy of your times—that is, Christian times—that dignity be abrogated from Christian senators, in order that to the gentiles the effect of a profane will be deferred (granted)? This libellus I forwarded to the brother of your clemency; whence it was established that the senate had not mandated to the legates anything regarding the expenditures of superstition.

11. Sed fortasse dicatur: Cur dudum non interfuerint senatui, cum ista peterentur? Satis loquuntur quid velint, qui non interfuerunt: satis locuti sunt, qui apud imperatorem locuti sunt. Et miramur tamen si privatis resistendi Romae eripiunt libertatem, qui nolunt esse liberum tibi non jubere, quod non probas; servare, quod sentis.

11. But perhaps it will be said: Why did they not previously take part in the senate, when those things were being requested? They speak clearly enough of what they want, who did not take part: those who spoke before the emperor have spoken enough. And we marvel, however, if they snatch away at Rome from private persons the liberty of resisting, who are unwilling that it be free for you not to order what you do not approve; to preserve what you hold.

12. Et ideo memor legationis proxime mandatae mihi, convenio iterum fidem tuam, convenio mentem tuam; ne vel respondendum secundum hujusmodi petitionem gentilium censeas, vel in ejusmodi responsa sacrilegium subscriptionis adjungas. Certe refer ad parentem pietatis tuae principem Theodosium, quem super omnibus fere majoribus causis consulere consuesti. Nihil majus est religione, nihil sublimius fide.

12. And therefore, mindful of the legation lately entrusted to me, I again address your faith, I address your mind; lest you think that a response ought to be given according to such a petition of the gentiles, or add the sacrilege of subscription to responses of this sort. Surely refer it to the parent of your piety, the Emperor Theodosius, whom you have been accustomed to consult about almost all greater causes. Nothing is greater than religion, nothing more sublime than faith.

12*. Si civilis causa esset, diversae parti responsio servaretur; causa religionis est, episcopus convenio. 827 Detur mihi exemplum missae relationis, ut ego plenius respondeam; et sic de omnibus consultus clementiae tuae parens respondere dignetur. Certe si aliud statuitur, episcopi hoc aequo animo pati et dissimulare non possumus; licebit tibi ad Ecclesiam convenire: sed illic non invenies sacerdotem, aut invenies resistentem.

12*. If it were a civil cause, a response would be reserved for the opposite party; it is a cause of religion, I convene the bishop. 827 Let a copy of the dispatched report be given to me, that I may respond more fully; and thus, having been consulted about everything, let the parent of your clemency deign to respond. Surely, if something else is decreed, we bishops cannot suffer this with an even mind and dissemble; it will be permitted for you to come to the Church: but there you will not find a priest, or you will find one resisting.

14. Quid respondebis sacerdoti dicenti tibi: Munera tua non quaerit Ecclesia, quia templa gentilium muneribus adornasti? Ara Christi dona tua respuit, quoniam aram simulacris fecisti; vox enim tua, manus tua; et subscriptio tua, opus est tuum. Obsequium tuum Dominus Jesus recusat et respuit, quoniam idolis obsecutus es; dixit enim tibi:Non potestis duobus dominis servire (Matth.

14. What will you answer to the priest saying to you: The Church does not seek your gifts, because you have adorned the temples of the Gentiles with gifts? The altar of Christ rejects your gifts, since you have made an altar for idols; for it is your voice, your hand; and your signature—your work. The Lord Jesus refuses and rejects your service, because you have been obsequious to idols; for he said to you:You cannot serve two masters (Matth.

VI, 25). Privilegia tua sacratae Deo virgines non habent, et vindicant virgines Vestae? Cur sacerdotes Dei requiris, quibus petitiones profanas gentilium praetulisti? Alieni erroris societatem suscipere non possumus.

6, 25). Do the virgins consecrated to God not have your privileges, and do the virgins of Vesta lay claim to them? Why do you seek the priests of God, before whom you have preferred the profane petitions of the gentiles? We cannot assume the association of alien error.

15. Quid respondebis his verbis? Puerum esse te lapsum? Omnis aetas perfecta Christo est; omnis Deo plena.

15. What will you answer to these words? That you, a boy, have slipped? Every age is perfect for Christ; every age is full of God.

Pueritia fidei non probatur: parvuli etiam Christum intrepido adversus persecutores ore confessi sunt.

Childishness in faith is not approved: even the little ones have confessed Christ with intrepid speech against persecutors.

16. Quid respondebis germano tuo? Nonne tibi dicet: Victum me esse non credidi, quia te imperatorem reliqui: mori non dolui, quia te haeredem habebam: imperio me decedere non ingemui; quia imperia mea, praesertim de religione divina, omnibus saeculis mansura credebam? Hos ergo titulos piae virtutis erexeram, has de saeculo manubias, haec spolia de diabolo, has ego de adversario omnium exuvias offerebam, in quibus aeterna victoria est.

16. What will you answer your brother? Will he not say to you: I did not believe that I was conquered, because I left you as emperor; I did not grieve to die, because I had you as heir; I did not groan to depart from imperial power, because I believed that my edicts, especially concerning divine religion, would remain for all ages? These, therefore, titles of pious virtue I had set up, these trophies from the world, these spoils from the devil, these stripped-off spoils from the adversary of all I was offering, in which there is an eternal victory.

Quid mihi plus potuit meus hostis auferre? Abrogasti decreta mea: quod adhuc ille qui contra me levavit arma, non fecit. Nunc gravius telum corpore recipio, quod a fratre mea statuta damnantur.

What more could my enemy have taken from me? You have abrogated my decrees—something which, even he who raised arms against me, has not yet done. Now I receive a more grievous weapon into my body, in that my statutes are condemned by a brother.

Meliore parte mei apud te periclitor; illa enim mors corporis, ista virtutis est. Nunc mihi abrogatur imperium, et quod est gravius, abrogatur a tuis, abrogatur a meis: et id abrogatur, quod in me etiam mei adversarii praedicarunt. Si volens acquievisti, damnasti fidem meam: si invitus cessisti, prodidisti tuam.

With the better part of me I am endangered before you; for that is a death of the body, this of virtue. Now my imperium is abrogated, and what is graver, it is abrogated by your own, it is abrogated by my own; and that is abrogated which even my adversaries proclaimed in me. If willingly you acquiesced, you condemned my faith; if unwillingly you ceded, you betrayed your own.

Ergo, quod gravius est, et in te periclitor.

Therefore, what is more grievous, I am imperiled even in you.

16*. Quid respondebis etiam patri, qui te majore dolore conveniet, dicens: De me, fili, 828 pessime judicasti, qui putasti quod ego gentilibus conniventiam praestitissem: nemo ad me detulit aram esse in illa Romana curia; numquam tantum nefas credidi, quod in communi illo christianorum gentiliumque concilio sacrificarent gentiles, hoc est, insultarent gentiles praesentibus christianis, et inviti christiani interesse sacrificiis cogerentur. Multa et diversa crimina, me imperante, commissa sunt, ultus sum quaecumque sunt deprehensa: si quis tunc latuit, debet ergo dicere me probasse, quod ad me nemo detulerat? De me pessime judicasti, si mihi superstitio aliena, non fides mea servavit imperium.

16*. What will you answer even to your father, who will meet you with greater sorrow, saying: Of me, son, you have judged most badly, 828 in that you thought I had afforded connivance to the gentiles: no one reported to me that there was an altar in that Roman curia; never did I believe so great a nefas, that in that common council of Christians and gentiles the gentiles would sacrifice—that is, that the gentiles would insult Christians being present, and that Christians, unwilling, would be forced to be present at the sacrifices. Many and diverse crimes, while I was ruling, were committed; I punished whatever was detected: if anyone then lay hidden, ought one therefore to say that I approved what no one had reported to me? You have judged me most badly, if an alien superstition, not my faith, preserved my empire.

17. Unde cum id advertas, Imperator, Deo primum, deinde patri et fratri injurias irrogari, si quid tale decernas; peto ut id facias, quod saluti tuae apud Deum intelligis profuturum.

17. Therefore, since you notice this, Emperor, that injuries are imposed upon God first, then upon your father and brother, if you decree anything of the sort; I ask that you do that which you understand will be profitable to your salvation before God.

RELATIO SYMMACHI URBIS PRAEFECTI

REPORT OF SYMMACHUS, PREFECT OF THE CITY

Imperatoribus supplicat senatus nomine, ut veteres religiones instaurentur, ac reparetur ara Victoriae, ut ad eam jusjurandum exigatur more antiquo; non enim superiores principes in eo imitandos, quod eam sustulere, sed in eo quod alios ritus non sustulerunt. Hoc ab eis Romam poscere, et profecto sine damno aerarii concedi posse: iniquum autem illud habendum, quod bona sibi legata Vestales sacrificique adire prohibeantur: quam rem dii ulti dicuntur immissa fame. Negat denique dicendum, quod petit, sumptum publicum: et orationem cohortando imperatores ad postulata sibi praestanda claudit.

In the name of the Senate, petition is made to the Emperors that the ancient religions be restored, and that the Altar of Victory be repaired, so that an oath be exacted at it according to the ancient custom; for the earlier princes are not to be imitated in that they removed it, but in that they did not remove other rites. This Rome asks of them, and indeed it can be granted without damage to the treasury: moreover that is to be held iniquitous, that the Vestals and the priests are forbidden to enter upon goods bequeathed to them; a matter which the gods are said to have avenged by a famine sent in. Finally, he denies that what he seeks should be called a public expenditure: and he closes the oration by exhorting the Emperors to grant the demands to him.

1. 'Ubi primum senatus amplissimus, semperque vester, subjecta legibus vitia cognovit, et a principibus piis vidit purgari famam proximorum temporum, boni saeculi auctoritatem secutus, evomuit diu pressum dolorem, atque iterum me querelarum suarum jussit esse legatum:cui ideo divi principis denegata est ab improbis audientia quia non erat justitia defutura, domini imperatores Valentiniane, Theodosi, et Arcadi inclyti, victores ac triumphatores, semper augusti.

1. 'As soon as the most ample senate, and ever yours, recognized the vices subjected to the laws, and saw the repute of the most recent times being purged by pious princes, following the authority of a good age, it vomited forth its long-pressed grief, and again ordered me to be the legate of its complaints: to whom therefore the audience of the deified prince was denied by the wicked, because justice was not going to be lacking, Lords Emperors Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius, renowned, victors and triumphators, ever august.

2. 'Gemino igitur functus officio, et ut praefectus vester gesta publica prosequor, et ut legatus civium mandata commendo. Nulla est hic dissensio voluntatum; quia jam credere homines desierunt aulicorum se studio praestare, si discrepent. Amari, coli, diligi, majus imperio est.

2. 'Therefore, having discharged a double office, both as your prefect I set forth the public acts, and as the legate of the citizens I commend their mandates. There is here no dissension of wills; for men have now ceased to believe that they gain preferment with courtiers by dissenting. To be loved, cultivated, and esteemed is greater than imperium.

Quis ferat obfuisse reipublicae privata certamina? Merito illos senatus insequitur, qui potentiam suam famae principis praetulerunt.

Who would endure that private contests have harmed the republic? Deservedly the senate prosecutes those who preferred their own power to the emperor’s fame.

3. 'Noster autem labor pro clementia vestra ducit excubias.829 Cui enim magis commodat quod instituta majorum, quod patriae jura et fata defendimus, quam temporum gloriae: quae tum major est, cum vobis contra morem parentum intelligitis nil licere? Repetimus igitur religionum statum, qui reipublicae diu profuit.

3. 'Our labor, however, keeps the watch on behalf of your clemency.829 For to whom does it more conduce that we defend the institutions of the ancestors, the rights and fates of the fatherland, than to the glory of the times: which is then greater, when you understand that nothing is permitted to you contrary to the custom of your forefathers? We therefore restore the state of religions, which long profited the commonwealth.'

Certe numerentur principes utriusque sectae, utriusque sententiae; proximus eorum ceremonias patrum coluit, recentior non removit. Si exemplum non facit religio veterum, faciat dissimulatio proximorum.

Surely let the princes of each sect, of each opinion, be counted; the one next among them cultivated the ceremonies of the fathers, the more recent did not remove them. If the religion of the ancients does not provide an example, let the dissimulation of the nearest provide one.

4. 'Quis ita familiaris est barbaris, ut aram victoriae non requirat? Cauti in posterum sumus, et talium rerum ostenta vitamus. Reddatur tamen saltem nomini honor, qui numini denegatus est.

4. 'Who is so familiar with the barbarians as not to require the Altar of Victory? We are cautious for the future, and we avoid the portents of such things. Yet let at least honor be rendered to the name, which has been denied to the numen.'

Multa victoriae debet aeternitas vestra, et adhuc plura debebit. Aversentur hanc potestatem, quibus nihil profuit: vos amicum triumphis patrocinium nolite deserere. Cunctis potentia ista votiva est: nemo colendam neget, quam profitetur optandam.

Your Eternity owes many things to Victory, and will owe still more. Let those to whom it has profited nothing turn away from this power; do not you abandon the patronage friendly to triumphs. To all, that power is votive; let no one deny to be cultivated what he professes to be desirable.

5. 'Quod si hujus ominis non esset justa vitatio, ornamentis saltem curiae decuit abstinere. Praestate, oro vos, ut ea quae pueri suscepimus, senes posteris relinquamus. Consuetudinis amor magnus est.

5. 'But if there were not a just avoidance of this omen, it was fitting at least to abstain from the ornaments of the curia. Provide, I beg you, that the things which we undertook as boys, we, as old men, leave to posterity. The love of custom is great.

Merito divi Constantii factum diu non stetit. Omnia vobis exempla vitanda sunt, quae mox remota didicistis. Aeternitatem curamus famae et nominis vestri; ne quid futura aetas inveniat corrigendum.

Rightly the deed of the deified Constantius did not stand for long. All precedents must be avoided by you—those which, once soon removed, you learned. We care for the eternity of your fame and name, lest the future age find anything to be corrected.

6. 'Ubi in leges vestras et verba jurabimus? qua religione mens falsa terrebitur; ne in testimoniis mentiatur? Omnia quidem Deo plena sunt, nec ullus perfidis tutus est locus: sed plurimum valet ad metum delinquendi etiam praesentia religionis urgeri.

6. 'Where shall we swear upon your laws and words? by what religion will a false mind be terrified; that it not lie in testimonies? All things indeed are full of God, nor is any place safe for the perfidious: but it avails very much toward the fear of delinquency also to be pressed by the presence of religion.

Illa ara concordiam tenet omnium, illa ara fidem convenit singulorum: neque aliquid magis auctoritatem facit sententiis nostris, quam quod omnia quasi juratus noster ordo decernit. Patebit ergo sedes profana perjuriis, et hoc inclyti principes mei probabile judicabunt, qui sacramento publico tuti sunt.

That altar holds the concord of all; that altar binds the faith of each individual: nor is there anything that more gives authority to our judgments than that our whole order decrees everything, as if sworn. Therefore the profane seat will lie open to perjuries, and this my illustrious princes—who are safeguarded by the public oath—will judge to be plausible.

7. 'Sed divus Constantius idem fecisse dicitur. Caetera potius illius principis aemulemur: qui nihil tale esset aggressus, si quis ante se alius deviasset.830 Corrigit enim sequentem lapsus prioris, et de reprehensione antecedentis exempli nascitur emendatio.

7. 'But the deified Constantius is said to have done the same. Rather let us emulate the other things of that prince: who would have attempted nothing of this sort, if someone else had deviated before him.830 For the lapse of the prior corrects the following, and from the reprehension of the antecedent example emendation is born.

Fas fuit ut parens ille clementiae vestrae in re adhuc nova non caveret invidiam. Num potest etiam nobis eadem defensio convenire, si imitemur, quod meminimus improbatum?

It was lawful that the father of Your Clemency, in a matter still new, should not beware of envy. Can the same defense also be suitable to us, if we imitate what we remember was disapproved?

8. 'Accipiat aeternitas vestra alia ejusdem principis facta, quae in usum dignius trahat. Nil ille decerpsit sacrarum virginum privilegiis, replevit nobilibus sacerdotia, Romanis ceremoniis non negavit impensas, et per omnes vias aeternae Urbis laetum secutus senatum, vidit placido ore delubra, legit inscripta fastigiis deorum nomina, percontatus est templorum origines, miratus est conditores. Cumque alias religiones ipse sequeretur, has servavit imperio; suus enim cuique mos, suus cuique ritus est.

8. 'Let your eternity receive other deeds of the same prince, which it might draw more worthily into use. He took nothing from the privileges of the sacred virgins, he replenished the priesthoods with nobles, he did not deny expenses to the Roman ceremonies, and, following the joyful Senate through all the streets of the Eternal City, he beheld with a placid countenance the shrines, he read the names of the gods inscribed on the pediments, he inquired into the origins of the temples, he admired the founders. And although he himself followed other religions, he preserved these by his imperial authority; for to each his own custom, to each his own rite.

Varios custodes urbibus et cultus mens divina distribuit. Ut animae nascentibus, ita populis fatales genii dividuntur. Accedit utilitas, quae maxime homini deos asserit.

The divine mind has distributed various guardians to cities and cults. As souls to those being born, so to peoples are apportioned fateful genii. An advantage accrues, which most strongly asserts the gods for man.

Nam cum ratio omnis in operto sit, unde rectius quam de memoria atque documentis rerum secundarum cognitio venit numinum? Jam si longa aetas auctoritatem religionibus faciat, servanda est tot saeculis fides, et sequendi sunt nobis parentes, qui secuti sunt feliciter suos.

For since all reason lies under cover, whence more rightly than from memory and the documents of favorable affairs does knowledge of the numina come? And if long age bestows authority upon religions, the faith kept through so many ages is to be preserved, and we must follow our parents, who happily followed theirs.

9. 'Romam nunc putemus assistere, atque his vobiscum agere sermonibus: Optimi principes, patres patriae reveremini annos meos, in quos me pius ritus adduxit. Utar cerimoniis avitis; neque enim poenitet. Vivam meo more, quia libera sum.

9. 'Let us now suppose that Rome is standing by, and is addressing you with these words: Most excellent princes, fathers of the fatherland, revere my years, into which a pious rite has brought me. I shall use ancestral ceremonies; for indeed I do not repent. I shall live by my own custom, because I am free.

Hic cultus in leges meas orbem redegit: haec sacra Annibalem a moenibus, a Capitolio Senonas repulerunt. Ad hoc ergo servata sum, ut longaeva reprehendar? Videro quod instituendum putatur; sera tamen et contumeliosa emendatio senectutis.

This cult has brought the world back under my laws: these sacra drove Hannibal from the walls, the Senones from the Capitol. For this, then, have I been preserved, that, long-lived, I should be reproached? I will see to what is thought ought to be instituted; yet it is a late and contumelious emendation of old age.

10. 'Ergo diis patriis, diis indigetibus pacem rogamus. Aequum est quidquid omnes colunt, unum putari. Eadem spectamus astra, commune coelum est, idem nos mundus involvit.

10. 'Therefore we ask the ancestral gods, the indigenous gods, for peace. It is equitable that whatever all worship be thought one. We behold the same stars, the heaven is common, the same world envelops us.

Quid interest qua quisque prudentia verum requirat? Uno itinere non potest perveniri ad tam grande secretum: sed haec otiosorum disputatio est: nunc preces, non certamina offerimus.'

'What difference does it make with what prudence each one seeks the truth? By a single road it is not possible to arrive at so great a secret: but this is the disputation of the idle; now we offer prayers, not contests.'

83111. 'Quanto commodo sacri aerarii vestri Vestalium virginum praerogativa detracta est? Sub largissimis imperatoribus denegatur, quod parcissimi praestiterunt? Honor solus est in illo velut stipendio castitatis.

83111. 'By how much to the advantage of your sacred aerarium has the prerogative of the Vestal virgins been withdrawn? Under the most lavish emperors is denied what the most parsimonious furnished? The honor alone is in that, as it were the stipend of chastity.'

Ut vitae earum capiti decus faciunt, ita insigne ducitur sacrificii vacare muneribus. Nudum quodammodo nomen immunitatis requirunt; quoniam paupertate a dispendio tutae sunt. Itaque amplius laudi earum tribuunt, qui aliquid rei detrahunt; siquidem saluti publicae dicata virginitas crescit merito, cum caret praemio.

Just as they make a decoration to the head of their life, so it is considered the emblem of sacrifice to be free from public duties (munera). They request, in a certain manner, the naked name of immunity; since by poverty they are safe from expense. Therefore they assign more to their praise, who detract something of substance; for virginity dedicated to the public safety increases in merit, when it lacks a reward.

12. 'Absint ab aerarii vestri puritate ista compendia. Fiscus bonorum principum non sacerdotum damnis, sed hostium spoliis augeatur. Ullumne lucrum compensat invidia?

12. 'Let those savings be absent from the purity of your treasury. Let the fisc of good princes be increased not by the losses of priests, but by the spoils of enemies. Does any profit compensate for envy?

Et quia avaritia in mores vestros non cadit, hoc miseriores sunt, quibus subsidia vetera decerpta sunt. Etenim sub imperatoribus, qui alieno abstinent, qui resistunt cupiditati, ad solam detrahitur amittentis injuriam, quod desiderium non movet auferentis.

And because avarice does not fall into your morals, for that very reason those are the more wretched from whom the old subsidies have been plucked away. For indeed under emperors who abstain from another’s property, who resist cupidity, the matter is reduced to the mere injury of the one losing, since it does not move the desire of the one taking away.

13. 'Agros etiam virginibus et ministris deficientium voluntate legatos fiscus retentat. Oro vos, justitiae sacerdotes, ut urbis vestrae sacris reddatur privata successio. Dictent testamenta securi, et sciant sub principibus non avaris stabile esse, quod scripserint.

13. 'The fiscus also retains fields bequeathed as legacies, by the will of the deceased, to virgins and ministers. I beg you, priests of justice, that the private succession be restored to the sacred rites of your city. Let them dictate testaments securely, and let them know that, under princes not avaricious, what they have written is stable.

Delectet vos ista felicitas generis humani, coepit causae hujus exemplum sollicitare morientes. Ergo Romanae religiones sub Romana jura non pertinent? Quod nomen accipiet ablatio facultatum, quas nulla lex, nullus casus fecit caducas?

May that felicity of the human race delight you, the precedent of this cause has begun to unsettle the dying. Do the Roman religions, then, not pertain under Roman laws? What name will the seizure of properties receive, which no law, no happenstance has made caducary?

Capiunt legata liberti, servis testamentorum justa commoda non negantur: tantum nobiles virgines, et fatalium sacrorum ministri excluduntur praediis haereditate quaesitis? Quid juvat saluti publicae castum corpus dicare, et imperii aeternitatem coelestibus fulcire praesidiis, armis vestris, aquilis vestris amicas applicare virtutes, pro omnibus efficacia vota suscipere, et jus cum omnibus non habere? Itaque melior est servitus, quae hominibus impenditur?

Freedmen take legacies; to slaves the just benefits of wills are not denied: only noble virgins and the ministers of the fatal rites are excluded from estates acquired by inheritance? What does it profit to dedicate a chaste body to the public safety, and to prop up the eternity of the empire with celestial presidia, to attach friendly virtues to your arms, to your eagles, to undertake efficacious vows on behalf of all, and not to have right in common with all? Therefore, is the servitude which is rendered to men the better?

Rempublicam laedimus, cui numquam expedit ut ingrata sit.

We harm the Republic, for which it is never expedient to be ungrateful.

14. 'Nemo me putet solam causam religionum tueri: ex hujusmodi facinoribus orta sunt cuncta Romani generis incommoda. Honoraverat lex parentum vestales virgines, ac ministros deorum, victu modico, justisque privilegiis: Stetit muneris hujus integritas usque ad degeneres trapezitas, qui ad mercedem vilium bajulorum sacrae castitatis alimenta verterunt. Secuta est hoc factum fames publica, et spem provinciarum omnium messis aegra decepit.

14. 'Let no one think that I alone am defending the cause of the religions: from misdeeds of this sort have arisen all the inconveniences of the Roman race. The law of the forefathers had honored the Vestal virgins and the ministers of the gods with modest victuals and just privileges: The integrity of this office stood fast up to the degenerate trapezites, who turned the sustenance of sacred chastity into the wages of cheap porters. Public famine followed this deed, and a sickly harvest deceived the hope of all the provinces.

Non sunt haec vitia terrarum. Nihil imputamus astris. Nec rubigo segetibus obfuit, nec 832 avena fruges necavit: sacrilegio annus exaruit; necesse enim fuit perire omnibus, quod religionibus negabatur.

These are not vices of the lands. We impute nothing to the stars. Neither did rust harm the sown fields, nor did 832 the oat destroy the fruits: by sacrilege the year dried up; for it was necessary that what was being denied to the religious rites perish for all.

[0C]15. 'Certe si est hujus mali aliquod exemplum, imputemus tantam famem viribus annorum: Gravis hanc sterilitatem aura constrinxit: silvestribus arbustis vita producitur, et rursus ad Dodonaeas arbores plebis rusticae inopia convolavit. Quid tale provinciae pertulerunt, cum religionum ministros honor publicus pasceret? Quando in usum hominum concussa quercus, quando vulsae sunt herbarum radices, quando alternos regionum defectus deseruit fecunditas mutua; cum populo et virginibus sacris[1A] communis esset annona?

[0C]15. 'Surely, if there is any example of this evil, let us impute so great a famine to the forces of the years: a heavy blast has constricted this sterility; on woodland shrubs life is prolonged, and again to the Dodonaean trees the want of the rustic plebs has flocked. What such thing have the provinces endured, when the public honor fed the ministers of religions? When was the oak shaken for the use of men, when were the roots of herbs torn up, when did mutual fecundity forsake the alternating deficits of regions; when the grain-ration was common to the people and to the sacred virgins[1A]?

Commendabat enim terrarum proventus victus antistitum, et remedium magis, quam largitas erat. An dubium est semper pro copia omnium datum, quod nunc inopia omnium vindicavit?

For the produce of the lands commended the sustenance of the prelates, and it was a remedy rather than largess. Is it doubtful that what was always given on account of the abundance of all, the want of all has now vindicated?

16. 'Dicet aliquis sumptum publicum denegatum alienae religionis impendiis. Absit a bonis principibus ista sententia; ut quod de communi quibusdam tributum est, in jure fisci esse videatur. Nam cum respublica de singulis constet; quod ab ea proficiscitur, sit rursus proprium singulorum.

16. 'Someone will say that public expenditure refused has been spent on the outlays of an alien religion. Far be that opinion from good princes; that what from the common stock has been granted to certain persons should seem to be in the right of the fisc. For since the commonwealth consists of individuals, what proceeds from it should in turn be the proper possession of individuals.

Omnia regitis, sed suum cuique servatis: plusque apud vos justitia. quam licentia valet. Consulite certe munificentiam vestram, an haec publica velit existimari, quae in alios transtulistis?

You govern all things, but you keep to each his own: and with you justice prevails more than license. Consult, surely, your munificence—whether these things should be considered public, which you have transferred to others?

Semel honori urbis delata compendia desinunt esse tribuentium: et quod a principio beneficium fuit, usu atque aetate fit debitum. Inanem igitur metum divino animo vestro tentat incutere, si quis asserit conscientiam vos habere praebentium, nisi detrahentium subieritis invidiam.

Once the allowances conferred to the honor of the city cease to belong to the bestowers: and what from the beginning was a benefice, by use and by age becomes a debt. Therefore an empty fear tries to strike your divine mind, if anyone asserts that you bear the conscience of the providers, unless you shall have undergone the envy of the detractors (those who take away).

17. 'Faveant clementiae vestrae sectarum omnium arcana praesidia: et haec maxime, quae majores vestros aliquando juverunt, vos defendant, a nobis colantur. Eum religionum statum petimus, qui divo parenti culminis vestri servavit imperium, qui fortunato principi legitimos suffecit haeredes. Spectat senior ille divus ex arce siderea lacrymas sacerdotum, et se culpatum putat more violato, quem libenter ipse servavit.

17. 'May the secret protections of all the sects favor your clemency: and let those most of all, which once helped your ancestors, defend you, and be honored by us. We seek that condition of the religions which preserved the empire for the deified parent of your eminence, which supplied legitimate heirs to the fortunate prince. That elder divinity looks down from the starry citadel upon the tears of the priests, and, with the custom violated—which he himself gladly observed—he thinks himself blamed.

[1C]18. 'Praestate etiam divo fratri vestro alieni consilii correctionem: tegite factum quod senatui displicuisse nescivit; Siquidem constat ideo exclusam legationem, ne ad eum judicium publicum perveniret. Pro existimatione est temporum superiorum, ut non dubitetis abolere, quod probatum est principis non fuisse.'

[1C]18. 'Afford also to your deified brother a correction of alien counsel: veil the deed which he did not know had displeased the senate; since it is agreed that for this reason the embassy was excluded, lest public judgment should come to him. Out of regard for the repute of earlier times, do not hesitate to abolish what has been proved not to have been the emperor’s.'

EPISTOLA XVIII.

EPISTLE 18.

Relationi Symmachi respondet AMBROSIUS, et post conciliatam sibi VALENTINIANI benevolentiam, tria in eadem relatione praecipua capita aggreditur. Nam prosopopoeiae qua Roma priscos suos ritus poscere fingebatur, alia ejusdem Romae contraria efflagitantis opponitur, cum Vestalibus et sacrificulis virgines sacrae et Christi sacerdotes comparantur, ac tandem quod sublatas illas ceremonias famem ultam fuisse dictitabatur, id vanum esse invictissimis argumentis demonstratur.

He replies to the report of Symmachus AMBROSE, and, after having conciliated to himself VALENTINIAN'S goodwill, he addresses three principal heads in the same report. For to the prosopopoeia by which Rome was feigned to demand her ancestral rites, there is opposed another of the same Rome demanding contrary things, when the Vestals and the sacrificers are compared with sacred virgins and the priests of Christ; and at length, as for the claim that a famine had taken vengeance because those ceremonies had been removed, it is shown to be empty by most invincible arguments.

AMBROSIUS episcopus beatissimo principi, et clementissimo imperatori VALENTINIANO augusto.

AMBROSE, bishop, to the most blessed prince and most clement emperor VALENTINIAN Augustus.

1. Cum vir clarissimus praefectus urbis Symmachus ad clementiam tuam retulisset, ut ara quae de urbis Romae curia sublata fuerat, redderetur loco; et tu, imperator, licet adhuc in minoris aevi tirocinio florentibus novus annis, fidei tamen virtute veteranus obsecrata gentilium non probares; eodem, Quo comperi, puncto libellum obtuli: quo licet comprehenderim, quae suggestioni necessaria viderentur; poposci tamen exemplum mihi relationis dari.

1. When the most illustrious man, the prefect of the city, Symmachus, had reported to your clemency that the altar which had been removed from the curia of the city of Rome be restored to its place; and you, emperor, although still in the apprenticeship of a younger age, new in flourishing years, yet by the virtue of faith a veteran, did not approve the supplications of the gentiles; at the same moment, Quo I learned it, I presented a petition: in which, although I had included what seemed necessary for the suggestion; nevertheless I demanded that a copy of the relation be given to me.

2. Itaque non fidei tuae ambiguus, sed providus cautionis, et pii certus examinis, hoc sermone relationis assertioni respondeo, hoc unum petens, ut non verborum elegantiam, sed vim rerum exspectandam putes. Aurea enim, sicut Scriptura divina docet (Eccl. VI, 11), est lingua sapientium litteratorum, quae phaleratis dotata sermonibus, et quodam splendentis eloquii velut coloris pretiosi corusco resultans, capit animorum oculos specie formosi, visuque perstringit.

2. Therefore, not doubtful of your faith, but provident in caution, and certain of a pious examination, with this discourse I answer the assertion of the report, asking this one thing: that you think not the elegance of words, but the force of the matters should be awaited. For golden, as the Divine Scripture teaches (Eccl. 6, 11), is the tongue of wise men of letters, which, endowed with ornamented speeches, and flashing back with a certain coruscation of shining eloquence, as it were the gleam of a precious hue, captures the eyes of souls by the appearance of the beautiful, and with its very look bedazzles.

Sed aurum hoc, si diligentius manu tractes, foris pretium, intus metallum est. Volve, quaeso, atque excute sectam gentilium: pretiosa et grandia sonant, veri effeta defendunt: Deum loquuntur, simulacrum adorant.

But this gold, if you handle it more diligently by hand, is value on the outside, metal within. Turn over, I beg, and shake out the sect of the gentiles: they sound precious and grand; effete of truth, they defend them. They speak of God, they adore a simulacrum.

3. Tria igitur in relatione sua vir clarissimus praefectus urbis proposuit, quae valida putavit: quod Roma veteres, ut ait, suos cultus requirat, et quod sacerdotibus suis virginibusque Vestalibus emolumenta tribuenda sint, et quod emolumentis sacerdotum negatis, fames secuta publica sit.

3. Therefore the most illustrious man, the prefect of the city, set forth three things in his relation, which he thought valid: that Rome, as he says, demands back her ancient cults, and that emoluments are to be granted to her priests and to the Vestal virgins, and that, with the emoluments of the priests denied, a public famine followed.

4. In prima propositione, flebili Roma quaestu sermonis illacrymat, veteres, ut ait, cultus ceremoniarum834 requirens. Haec sacra, inquit, Hannibalem a moenibus, a Capitolio Senonas repulerunt. Itaque dum sacrorum potentia praedicatur, infirmitas proditur.

4. In the first proposition, Rome, with a plaintive complaint of discourse, sheds tears, demanding the ancient cults of ceremonies834. “These sacred rites,” he says, “drove Hannibal from the walls, the Senones from the Capitol.” And thus, while the potency of the sacra is being proclaimed, weakness is betrayed.

Ergo Hannibal diu sacris insultavit Romanis, et diis contra se dimicantibus, usque ad muros urbis vincendo pervenit. Cur se obsideri passi sunt, pro quibus deorum suorum arma pugnabant?

Therefore Hannibal for a long time insulted the Roman sacred rites, and, with the gods fighting against him, by conquering he came all the way to the walls of the city. Why did they allow themselves to be besieged, for whom the arms of their own gods were fighting?

5. Nam de Senonibus quid loquar, quos Capitolii secreta penetrantes Romanae reliquiae non tulissent, nisi eos pavido anser strepitu prodidisset? En quales templa Romana praesules habent. Ubi tunc erat Jupiter?

5. For what shall I say of the Senones, whom, as they penetrated the secret places of the Capitol, the Roman remnant would not have withstood, unless a goose had betrayed them by its fearful clamor? Behold what sort of prelates the Roman temples have. Where then was Jupiter?

An in ansere loquebatur?

Or was he speaking through the goose?

6. Verum quid negem sacrorum ritus militasse Romanis? Sed etiam Annibal eosdem Deos colebat. Utrum volunt igitur, eligant.

6. Indeed, why should I deny that the rites of the sacred fought for the Romans? But even Hannibal worshiped the same Gods. Let them choose, then, whichever they wish.

Si in Romanis vicerunt sacra, in Carthaginensibus ergo superata sunt: si in Carthaginensibus triumphata, nec Romanis utique profuerunt.

If among the Romans the sacred rites have prevailed, therefore among the Carthaginians they have been overcome: if among the Carthaginians they were triumphant, nor, assuredly, did they profit the Romans.

7. Facessat igitur invidiosa illa populi Romani querela: non hanc Roma mandavit. Aliis illa eos interpellat vocibus: Quid me casso quotidie gregis innoxii sanguine cruentatis? Non in fibris pecudum, sed in viribus bellatorum tropaea victoriae sunt.

7. Let that invidious complaint of the Roman people therefore be gone: Rome did not command this. With other voices she challenges them: Why do you daily stain me with the empty blood of an innocent flock? The trophies of victory are not in the entrails of beasts, but in the strength of warriors.

Aliis ego disciplinis orbem subegi. Militabat Camillus, qui sublata Capitolio signa, caesis Tarpeiae rupis triumphatoribus, reportavit: stravit virtus, quos religio non removit. Quid de Attilio loquar, qui militiam etiam mortis impendit?

By other disciplines I subdued the world. Camillus was soldiering, who brought back the standards that had been carried off from the Capitol, when the triumphators of the Tarpeian crag had been cut down: valor laid low those whom religion did not remove. What shall I say of Attilius, who devoted even death to his military service?

Africanus non inter Capitolii aras, sed inter Annibalis acies triumphum invenit. Quid mihi veterum exempla profertis? Odi ritus Neronum.

Africanus found his triumph not among the altars of the Capitol, but amid Hannibal’s battle-lines. Why do you bring forward to me examples of the ancients? I hate Neronian rites.

Quid dicam bimestres imperatores, et terminos regum cum exordiis copulatos? Aut forte illud est novum, barbaros suis excessisse finibus? Numquid etiam illi christiani fuerunt, quorum miserabili novoque exemplo alter captivus imperator, sub altero captivus orbis, fefellisse quae victoriam promittebant, suas ceremonias prodiderunt?

What shall I say of two‑month emperors, and the ends of kings coupled with their beginnings? Or perhaps that is something new, that barbarians have exceeded their own boundaries? Were even they Christians, who, by a pitiable and novel example—one emperor a captive, under another the world a captive—betrayed their own ceremonies, having discovered that the things which promised victory had deceived them?

Numquid et tunc non erat ara victoriae? Poenitet lapsus: vetusta canities pudendi sanguinis traxit ruborem. Non erubesco cum toto orbe longaeva converti.

Was there not then also an altar of Victory? I repent the lapse: ancient hoariness has drawn the blush to bashful blood. I do not blush, long-lived, to be converted with the whole world.

Verum certe est quia nulla aetas ad perdiscendum sera est. Erubescat senectus, quae emendare se non potest. Non annorum canities est laudata, sed morum (Sap.

But it is certainly true that no age is too late for thoroughly learning. Let old age blush, which cannot amend itself. It is not the hoariness of years that is praised, but of morals (Sap.

IV, IX). Nullus pudor est ad meliora transire. Hoc solum habebam commune cum 835 barbaris, quia Deum antea nesciebam. Sacrificium vestrum ritus est bestiarum cruore respergi.

4, 9). There is no shame to pass over to better things. This alone I had in common with the 835 barbarians, because I did not know God before. Your sacrifice is a rite to be spattered with the gore of beasts.

Quid in mortuis pecudibus quaeritis Dei voces? Venite, et discite in terris coelestem militiam: hic vivimus, et illic militamus. Coeli mysterium doceat me Deus ipse, qui condidit: non homo, qui se ipsum ignoravit.

Why do you seek the voices of God in dead beasts? Come, and learn on earth the celestial militia: here we live, and there we do military service. Let God himself, who founded it, teach me the mystery of heaven, not man, who was ignorant of himself.

Cui magis de Deo, quam Deo credam? Quomodo possum vobis credere, qui fatemini vos ignorare quod colitis?

Whom should I trust more about God than God? How can I believe you, who confess that you are ignorant of what you worship?

8. Uno, inquit, itinere non potest perveniri ad tam grande secretum. Quod vos ignoratis, id nos Dei voce cognovimus. Et quod vos suspicionibus quaeritis, nos ex ipsa sapientia Dei et veritate compertum habemus.

8. By a single journey, he says, one cannot arrive at so grand a secret. What you are ignorant of, that we have learned by the voice of God. And what you seek by suspicions, we have ascertained from the very wisdom of God and from truth.

Non congruunt igitur vestra nobiscum. Vos pacem diis vestris ab imperatoribus obsecratis, nos ipsis imperatoribus a Christo pacem rogamus. Vos manuum vestrarum adoratis opera, nos injuriam ducimus omne quod fieri potest, Deum putari.

Therefore your things are not congruent with ours. You implore from the emperors peace for your gods; we ask from Christ peace for the emperors themselves. You adore the works of your hands; we deem it an injury that anything which can be made should be thought God.

Non vult se Deus in lapidibus coli. Denique etiam ipsi philosophi vestri ista riserunt.

God does not wish Himself to be worshiped in stones. Finally, even your own philosophers laughed at these things.

9. Quod si vos ideo Christum Deum negatis; quia illum mortuum esse non creditis (nescitis enim quod mors illa carnis fuerit, non divinitatis, quae fecit ut credentium jam nemo moriatur) quid vobis imprudentius, qui contumeliose colitis, et honorifice derogatis; vestrum enim Deum lignum putatis. O contumeliosa reverentia! Christum mori potuisse non creditis.

9. But if you therefore deny Christ to be God; because you do not believe that he was dead (for you are ignorant that that death was of the flesh, not of the divinity—which brought it about that now no one of the believers dies), what is more imprudent for you, who worship contumeliously and derogate honorifically? For you suppose your god to be wood. O contumelious reverence! You do not believe that Christ could have died.

O honorifica pervicacia!

O honorific pervicacity!

10. Sed vetera, inquit, reddenda sunt altaria simulacris, ornamenta delubris. Reposcantur haec a consorte superstitionis: christianus imperator aram solius Christi didicit honorare. Quid manus pias et ora fidelia ministerium suis cogunt sacrilegis exhibere?

10. But, he says, the old altars must be restored to the simulacra, the ornaments to the shrines. Let these be demanded back by the consort of superstition: the Christian emperor has learned to honor the altar of Christ alone. Why do they compel pious hands and faithful mouths to render service to their own sacrileges?

Vox imperatoris nostri Christum resultet, et illum solum, quem sentit, loquatur; quia cor regis in manu Dei (Prov. XXI, 1). Numquid imperator gentilis aram Christo levavit? Dum ea quae fuerunt, reposcunt, exemplo suo admonent quantum christiani imperatores religioni, quam sequuntur, debeant deferre reverentiae; quando gentiles superstitionibus suis omnia detulerunt.

Let the voice of our emperor resound Christ, and let it speak him alone, whom he perceives; because the heart of the king is in the hand of God (Prov. 21, 1). Did a gentile emperor raise an altar to Christ? While they demand back the things that once were, by their own example they admonish how much Christian emperors ought to defer reverence to the religion which they follow; since the gentiles rendered everything to their own superstitions.

11. Dudum coepimus, et jam sequuntur exclusos. Nos sanguine gloriamur, illos dispendium movet. Nos haec victoriae loco ducimus, illi injuriam putant.

11. We began long since, and now they follow the excluded. We glory in blood; loss moves them. We reckon these things in the place of victory; they deem it an injury.

Numquam nobis amplius contulerunt, quam cum verberari christianos atque proscribi ac necari juberent. Praemium fecit religio, quod perfidia putabat esse supplicium. Videte magnanimos.

They never conferred upon us more than when they ordered Christians to be scourged, proscribed, and killed. Religion made a reward of what perfidy supposed to be a punishment. Behold the magnanimous.

Per injurias, per inopiam, per supplicium nos crevimus: illi ceremonias suas sine quaestu manere posse non credunt.

Through injuries, through indigence, through punishment we have grown: they do not believe that their ceremonies can remain without profit.

83611. Habeant, inquit, Vestales virgines immunitatem suam. Dicant hoc, qui nesciunt credere, quod possit esse gratuita virginitas: provocent lucris, Qui diffidunt virtutibus. Quantas tamen illis virgines praemia promissa fecerunt?

83611. Let the Vestal virgins have their immunity, he says. Let those say this who do not know how to believe that virginity can be gratuitous: let them challenge with profits, Those who distrust virtues. Yet how many virgins did the promised rewards make for them?

Vix septem Vestales capiuntur puellae. En totus numerus quem infulae vittati capitis, purpuratarum vestium murices, pompa lecticae ministrorum circumfusa comitatu, privilegia maxima, lucra ingentia, praescripta denique pudicitiae tempora coegerunt.

Hardly seven Vestal virgins are secured. Behold the whole number that the infulae of a banded head, the murexes of purpled garments, the pomp of a litter surrounded by a retinue of attendants, the greatest privileges, immense lucre, and finally the times prescribed for pudicity have compelled.

12. Attollant mentis et corporis oculos, videant plebem pudoris, populum integritatis, concilium virginitatis. Non vittae capiti decus, sed ignobile velamen usui, nobile castitati: non exquisita, sed abdicata lenocinia pulchritudinis: non illa purpurarum insignia, non luxus deliciarum, sed usus jejuniorum: non privilegia, non lucra: omnia postremo talia, ut revocari a studio putes, dum exercentur officia. Sed dum exercetur officium, studium provocatur.

12. Let them lift up the eyes of mind and body, let them see the plebs of modesty, the people of integrity, the council of virginity. Not fillets a glory to the head, but an ignoble veil for use, noble for chastity: not exquisite, but abdicated blandishments of beauty: not those insignia of purple, not the luxury of delights, but the use of fastings: not privileges, not profits: everything, finally, of such a sort that you would think one called back from zeal, while the offices are being exercised. But while the office is exercised, zeal is provoked.

Suis castitas cumulatur dispendiis. Non est virginitas, quae pretio emitur, non virtutis studio possidetur: non est integritas quaecumque in auctione nummario ad tempus licitatur compendio. Prima castitatis victoria est facultatum cupiditates vincere; quia lucri studium tentamentum pudoris est.

Chastity is heaped up by its own disbursements. There is not a virginity which is bought at a price; it is not possessed by zeal for virtue: nor is integrity whatever is put up at a money-changer’s auction, bid out for a time for profit. The first victory of chastity is to conquer the cupidities of one’s resources; because the pursuit of gain is a temptation of modesty.

Ponamus tamen subsidia largitatum conferenda virginibus. Quae christianis munera redundabunt? quod tantas opes sufficiet aerarium?

Let us, nevertheless, posit subsidies of largesses to be conferred upon virgins. What gifts will redound to Christians? What treasury will suffice for such great resources?

Aut si arbitrantur solis Vestalibus conferendum, non pudet, ut qui totum sibi sub imperatoribus gentilibus vindicarunt, iidem sub principibus christianis non putent nobis sortem debere esse communem.

Or if they think it should be conferred upon the Vestals alone, is it not shameful that those who under Gentile (pagan) emperors claimed the whole for themselves, these same under Christian princes do not think that the lot ought to be common with us?

13. Sacerdotibus quoque suis et ministris queruntur alimenta publica non deberi. Quantus hinc verborum tumultus increpuit? At contra, nobis etiam privatae successionis emolumenta recentibus legibus denegantur, et nemo conqueritur; non enim putamus injuriam, quia dispendium non dolemus.

13. They complain that public sustenance is not owed to their priests and ministers as well. What a tumult of words has clattered forth from this! But conversely, even the emoluments of private succession are denied to us by recent laws, and no one complains; for we do not deem it an injury, because we do not grieve the loss.

Si privilegium quaerat sacerdos, ut onus curiale declinet, patria atque avita et omnium facultatum possessione cedendum est. Quomodo hanc gentiles, si haberent, ingravarent querelam, quod sacerdos ferias ministerii sui emat totius patrimonii sui damno, et privati universae commoditatis dispendio usum publici mercetur obsequii: praetendens communis salutis excubias, domesticae inopiae se mercede soletur; quia ministerium non vendidit, sed gratiam comparavit.

If a priest seeks a privilege, in order to decline the curial burden, the possession of paternal and ancestral property, and of all his resources, must be ceded. How would the pagans, if they had it, aggravate this complaint: that the priest buys the holidays of his ministry at the loss of his entire patrimony, and, at the expense of all private commodiousness, purchases the exercise of public service: pleading the watches for the common salvation, let him solace himself for household want by the wage; because he has not sold a ministry, but has acquired grace.

14. Conferet causas. Vos excusare vultis decurionem, cum Ecclesiae excusare non liceat sacerdotem. Scribuntur testamenta templorum ministris, nullus excipitur profanus, nullus837 ultimae conditionis, nullus prodigus verecundiae: soli ex omnibus clerico commune jus clauditur, a quo solo pro omnibus votum commune suscipitur, officium commune defertur: nulla legata vel gravium viduarum, nulla donatio.

14. He will compare the cases. You wish to excuse the decurion, when it is not permitted the Church to excuse the priest. Testaments are written in favor of the ministers of the temples; no profane person is excepted, no one of the lowest condition, no one prodigal of modesty: to the cleric alone out of all the common right is shut, by whom alone for all the common vow is undertaken, the common office is borne: no legacies, not even those of grave widows, no donation.837

Et ubi in moribus culpa non deprehenditur; tamen officio mulcta praescribitur. Quod sacerdotibus fani legaverit christiana vidua, valet: quod ministris Dei, non valet. Quod ego non ut querar, sed ut sciant quid non querar, comprehendi; malo enim nos pecunia minores esse, quam gratia.

And where in morals no fault is detected; nevertheless a mulct is prescribed upon the office. What a Christian widow has bequeathed to the priests of a fanum is valid; what to the ministers of God is not valid. Which I have set down not to complain, but that they may know what I do not complain of; for I prefer that we be lesser in money than in grace.

15. Sed referunt, ea quae vel donata vel relicta sunt Ecclesiae, non esse temerata. Dicant et ipsi quis templis dona detraxerit quod factum est christianis. Quae si facta essent gentilibus, redderetur potius quam inferretur injuria.

15. But they report that the things which have either been given or left to the Church have not been violated. Let they themselves also say who has stripped the temples of gifts—a thing which has been done to Christians. Which, if they had been done to the Gentiles, restitution would be made rather than a wrong inflicted.

Nunccine demum justitia praetenditur, aequitas postulatur? Ubi tunc erat ista sententia; cum direptis christianorum omnium facultatibus, ipsos vitales anhelitus in viderent, et nullis usquam negata defunctis inhiberent supremae commercia sepulturae? Quos gentiles praecipitarunt, maria reddiderunt.

Now at last is justice being put forward, is equity being demanded? Where then was that judgment; when, the resources of all Christians having been plundered, they begrudged even the very vital breaths themselves, and hindered the final commerce of sepulture—denied to no dead anywhere? Those whom the gentiles cast headlong, the seas gave back.

Fidei ista victoria est, quod et ipsi jam facta majorum carpunt, quorum gesta condemnant. Sed quae, malum! ratio, ut eorum munera petant, quorum gesta condemnant?

This is the victory of Faith, that even they themselves now carp at the deeds of their elders, whose deeds they condemn. But what, the devil! reason is there, that they should seek the gifts of those whose deeds they condemn?

16. Nemo tamen donaria delubris, et legata haruspicibus denegavit: sola sublata sunt praedia; quia non religiose utebantur iis, quae religionis jure defenderent. Qui nostro utuntur exemplo, cur non utebantur officio? Nihil Ecclesia sibi, nisi fidem possidet.

16. No one, however, denied votive gifts to the shrines, or legacies to the haruspices: only the estates were removed; because they were not using in a religious manner those things which they would defend by the right of religion. Those who use our example—why were they not making use of duty? The Church possesses nothing for herself, except faith.

Hos redditus praebet, hos fructus. Possessio Ecclesiae sumptus est egenorum. Numerent quos redemerint templa captivos, quae contulerint alimenta pauperibus, quibus exsulibus vivendi subsidia ministraverint.

It provides these revenues, these fruits. The possession of the Church is the expense for the needy. Let the temples reckon how many captives they have redeemed, what aliment they have contributed to the poor, to which exiles they have ministered subsidies for living.

Praedia igitur intercepta, non jura sunt.

Therefore, the estates seized are not rights.

17. En quod factum, quae triste piaret nefas, fames, ut aiunt, publica vindicavit; quia usui omnium proficere coepit, quod proficiebat commodis sacerdotum. Propterea ergo detractis, ut aiunt, arbusta exuta corticibus, succo miserabili deficientium ora lambebant. Propterea Chaonia frugem glande mutantes, rursus in pecudum pastus, et ad infelicis victus alimenta revocati, concussa quercu, famem in silvis838 miseram solabantur.

17. Behold what was done: that a sad nefarious deed might be expiated, the public famine, as they say, took vengeance; since that which had been profiting the conveniences of the priests began to profit the use of all. Therefore, with the orchards, as they say, stripped, the trees flayed of their bark, they were licking with wretched sap the mouths of the failing. Therefore, exchanging grain for the Chaonian acorn, returning again to the fodder of cattle, and recalled to the aliments of an ill-starred sustenance, the oak having been shaken, they were consoling their wretched hunger in the woods838 miserable though it was.

Nova videlicet prodigia terrarum, quae numquam ante acciderant; cum superstitio gentilis toto orbe ferveret! Re vera quando ante vacuis avenis seges avari vota lusit agricolae, et spem rusticae plebis quaesita sulcis frugis herba destituit?

New, namely, prodigies of the lands, which had never happened before; while pagan superstition was seething throughout the whole orb! In truth, when before has the standing corn with empty oats mocked the greedy farmer’s vows, and has the grass disappointed the hope of the rustic plebs for grain sought in the furrows?

18. Et unde Graecis oracula habita suae quercus, nisi quia remedium silvestris alimoniae coelestis religionis donum putarunt? Talia enim suorum munera credunt deorum. Quis dodonaeas arbores, nisi gentium populus adoravit; cum pabulum triste agri nemorum honore donaret?

18. And whence did the Greeks have oracles held from their own oak, unless because they supposed the remedy of sylvan alimentation to be a gift of celestial religion? For such they believe to be the gifts of their gods. Who but the gentile people worshiped the Dodonaean trees, when they endowed the dreary provender of the field with the honor of the groves?

Non est verisimile quod indignantes eorum dii id pro poena intulerint, quod solebant placati conferre pro munere.

It is not likely that their gods, indignant, inflicted as a penalty that which, when appeased, they were accustomed to confer as a gift.

Quae autem aequitas, ut paucis sacerdotibus dolentes victum negatum, ipsi omnibus denegarent; cum inclementior esset vindicta, quam culpa? Non est igitur idonea, quae tantam aegritudinem mundi fallentis causa constrinxerit; ut virentibus segetibus subito spes anni adulta moreretur.

But what equity is it, that, grieving that sustenance had been denied to a few priests, they themselves should deny it to all; since the vengeance was more inclement than the fault? Therefore it is not a fitting cause, one that, deceiving the world, has constrained so great a distress; such that, with the grainfields verdant, the full-grown hope of the year would suddenly die.

19. Et certe ante plurimos annos templorum jura toto orbe sublata sunt: modone demum diis gentilium venit in mentem suas injurias ultum ire? Propterea nec assueto cursu Nilus intumuit, ut Urbicorum sacerdotum dispendia vindicaret, qui non vindicavit suorum?

19. And certainly long before, the rights of the temples were removed throughout the whole world: is it only just now at last that it has come into the minds of the gods of the gentiles to go avenge their injuries? Therefore not even did the Nile swell in its accustomed course, to vindicate the losses of the priests of the City, who did not vindicate his own?

20. Esto tamen si superiore anno deorum suorum injurias vindicatas putant, cur praesenti anno contemptui fuere? Jam enim nec herbarum vulsis radicibus rusticana plebs pascitur, nec baccae silvestris explorat solatia; nec cibum de sentibus rapit: sed operum laeta felicium, dum messes suas et ipsa miratatur, explevit voti satietate jejunium: usurarios nobis reddidit terra proventus.

20. Be it so, however—if they think that in the previous year the injuries of their gods were vindicated, why in the present year have they been objects of contempt? For now neither does the rustic plebs feed on the plucked-up roots of herbs, nor does it explore the solaces of the wild berry; nor does it snatch food from brambles: but, glad at felicitous works, while even she herself marvels at her own harvests, she has satisfied her fast with the satiety of her vow: the earth has rendered to us usurious yields.

21. Quis ergo tam novus humanis usibus vices stupeat annorum? Et tamen etiam superiore anno plerasque novimus provincias redundasse fructibus. De Galliis quid loquar solito ditioribus?

21. Who, then, is so new to human uses as to be stupefied at the vicissitudes of the years? And yet even in the previous year we have known very many provinces to have overflowed with fruits. What shall I say of the Gauls, richer than usual?

Frumentum Pannoniae, quod non severant, vendiderunt: et secunda Rhetia fertilitatis suae novit invidiam; nam quae solebat tutior esse jejunio, fecunditate hostem in se excitavit: Liguriam Venetiasque autumni frumenta paverunt. Ergo nec ille sacrilegio annus exaruit, et iste fidei fructibus annus effloruit. Negent etiam quod largo fetu vineae redundaverint.

The grain of Pannonia, which they had not sown, they sold: and Raetia Secunda came to know envy for her fertility; for she who was accustomed to be safer by fasting, by fecundity roused an enemy against herself: the grains of autumn fed Liguria and Venetia. Therefore neither did that year wither by sacrilege, and this year flowered with the fruits of faith. Let them also deny that the vineyards have overflowed with a lavish offspring.

839 Itaque et messem feneratam recepimus, et liberalioris vindemiae beneficia possidemus.

839 Therefore we have received a harvest with interest, and we possess the benefits of a more liberal vintage.

22. Postremus superest et maximus locus, utrum ea quae vobis profuerint, imperatores, restituere subsidia debeatis; ait enim: Vos defendant, a nobis colantur. Hoc est, fidelissimi Principes, quod ferre non possumus; quia exprobrant nobis vestro se nomine diis suis supplicare, et vobis non mandantibus, sacrilegium immane committunt, dissimulationem pro consensu interpretantes. Sibi habeant praesidia sua: suos si possunt, illa defendant.

22. Lastly there remains the greatest point, whether you, emperors, ought to restore the subsidies of those things which have profited you; for he says: Let them defend you, let them be worshiped by us. This, most faithful Princes, is what we cannot bear; because they reproach us that in your name they supplicate their gods, and, you not commanding it, they commit immense sacrilege, interpreting dissimulation as consent. Let them keep their own safeguards to themselves: if they can, let those defend their own.

Nam si iis a quibus coluntur, auxilio esse non possunt; quomodo possunt vos defendere, a quibus non coluntur?

For if to those by whom they are venerated they cannot be a help, how can they defend you, by whom they are not venerated?

23. Sed majorum, inquit, servandus est ritus. Quid quod omnia postea in melius profecerunt? Mundus ipse, qui vel primum coactis elementorum per inane seminibus, tenero orbe, concreverat, vel confuso adhuc indigesti operis caligabat horrore; nonne postea distincto coeli, maris, terrarumque discrimine, rerum formas quibus speciosus videtur, accepit?

23. “But the rite of the ancestors,” he says, “must be kept.” What of the fact that afterwards all things progressed for the better? The world itself, which either at first, when the seeds of the elements had been gathered through the void, had grown together into a tender orb, or was still darkening with the gloom of a confused, as yet undigested work—did it not afterwards, once the distinction of heaven, sea, and lands was marked out, receive the forms of things by which it appears beautiful?

Exutae humentibus tenebris novum terrae stupuere solem. Dies in exordio non refulget, sed in processu temporis incremento luminis micat, et caloris exaestuat.

The lands, stripped of the humid darknesses, were astonished at the earth’s new sun. The day in its exordium does not refulge, but in the process of time it sparkles with an increment of light, and seethes with heat.

24. Luna ipsa, qua propheticis oraculis species Ecclesiae figuratur, cum primum resurgens in menstruas reparatur aetates, tenebris nobis absconditur: paulatimque cornua sua complens, vel e regione solis absolvens, clari splendore fulgoris irrutilat.

24. The moon itself, by which in prophetic oracles the appearance of the Church is figured, when first, rising again, it is renewed into its monthly periods, is concealed from us in darkness: and little by little, filling its horns, or, withdrawing into the region opposite the sun, it glows with the clear splendor of effulgence.

25. Exerceri in fructus terrae ante nesciebant: post ubi imperare arvis sollicitus coepit agricola, et informe solum vestire vinetis, silvestres animos domesticis mollitae cultibus exuerunt.

25. Formerly they did not know to be exercised for the fruits of the earth: afterwards, when the farmer, solicitous, began to command the fields and to clothe the formless soil with vineyards, they shed their wild-wood spirits, softened by domestic cultivation.

26. Anni ipsius aetas prima, quae nos usu parili coloravit nutu gignentium: sed in processu lapsuris floribus vernat, postremis adolescit fructibus.

26. The first age of the year itself, which has colored us with a like usage at the nod of the begetters: but in its progress it becomes vernal with flowers destined to lapse, it grows up with its latest fruits.

27. Nos quoque aevi rudes, sensus habemus infantiam: sed mutati in annos ingenii rudimenta deponimus.

27. We too, raw in age, have the infancy of sense: but, changed into years, we lay aside the rudiments of innate character.

Dicant igitur in suis omnia manere debuisse principiis; mundum tenebris obductum, quia splendore solis illuxerit, displicere. Et quanto gratius est animi tenebras depulisse, quam corporis, fideique jubar emicuisse, quam solis? Ergo 840 et mundi sicut omnium rerum primaeva nutarunt, ut venerabilis canae fidei sequeretur senectus.

Let them, then, say that all things ought to have remained in their own principles; that the world, overcast with darkness, should be displeasing because it has been illumined by the splendor of the sun. And how much more grateful is it to have driven away the darkness of the soul than of the body, and for the radiance of faith to have flashed forth rather than that of the sun? Therefore 840 both the primeval things of the world, as of all things, have wavered, so that the venerable hoary old age (senectus) of faith might follow.

Quos hoc movet, reprehendant messem; quia sera fecunditas est: reprehendant vindemiam; quia in occasu anni est: reprehendant olivam; quia postremus est fructus.

Let those whom this moves reprehend the harvest; because it is a late fecundity: let them reprehend the vintage; because it is at the decline of the year: let them reprehend the olive; because it is the last fruit.

28. Ergo et messis nostra fides animorum est; Ecclesiae gratia meritorum vindemia est, quae ab ortu mundi virebat in sanctis, sed postrema aetate se diffudit in populos, ut adverterent omnes non rudibus animis irrepsisse fidem Christi (nulla enim sine adversario corona victoriae) sed explosa opinione, quae ante convaluit, quod erat verum, fit jure praelatum.

28. Therefore our harvest too is the faith of souls; the Church’s vintage is the grace of merits, which from the world’s origin was flourishing among the saints, but in the latest age has diffused itself among the peoples, so that all might advert that the faith of Christ had not crept into rude minds (for there is no crown of victory without an adversary), but, the opinion which before had prevailed having been exploded, that which was true becomes by right preferred.

30. Si ritus veteres delectabant, cur in alienos ritus eadem Roma successit? Omitto absconditam pretio humum, et pastorales casas auro degeneri renitentes. Quid, ut de ipso respondeam quod queruntur, captarum simulacra urbium, victosque deos, et peregrinos ritus sacrorum alienae superstitionis aemuli receperunt?

30. If the ancient rites delighted, why did that same Rome pass over into alien rites? I omit the soil hidden for a price, and the pastoral huts resplendent with degenerate gold. What? so that I may answer the very thing which they complain of: did they not, emulous of alien superstition, receive the simulacra of captured cities, the vanquished gods, and the peregrine rites of sacred things?

Unde igitur exemplum, quod currus suos simulato Almonis in flumine lavat Cybele? Unde Phrygii vates, et semper invisa Romanis non aequae Carthaginis numina? Quam Coelestem Afri, Mithram Persae, plerique Venerem colunt, pro diversitate nominis, non pro numinis varietate.

Whence, then, the example that Cybele washes her chariots in the feigned river of the Almo? Whence the Phrygian vates, and the numina of Carthage, not fair to the Romans and ever odious to them? The same one whom the Africans worship as Caelestis, the Persians as Mithras, and the majority as Venus—by diversity of name, not by variety of numen.

Sic deam esse et victoriam crediderunt, quae utique munus est, non potestas: donatur, non dominatur, legionum gratia, non religionum potentia. Magna igitur dea, quam militum multitudo sibi vindicat, vel praeliorum donat eventus?

Thus they believed her to be both a goddess and Victory, which is assuredly a gift, not a power: it is bestowed, it does not dominate; by the favor of the legions, not by the potency of religions. Great goddess, then, whom the multitude of soldiers claims for itself, or whom the outcome of battles bestows?

31. Hujus aram strui in urbis Romae curia petunt, hoc est, quo plures conveniunt christiani. Omnibus in templis arae, ara etiam in templo victoriarum. Quoniam numero delectantur, sacrificia sua ubique concelebrant.

31. They seek for an altar of this one to be built in the curia of the city of Rome, that is, where more Christians convene. Altars in all the temples, an altar even in the temple of the Victories. Since they delight in number, they concelebrate their sacrifices everywhere.

Quid est nisi insultare fidei, unius arae sacrificium vindicare? Ferendumne istud, ut gentilis sacrificet, et christianus intersit? Hauriant, inquit, hauriant vel inviti fumum oculis, symphoniam auribus, cinerem faucibus, thus naribus, et aversantium licet ora excitata focis nostris favilla respergat.

What is it but to insult the Faith, to claim the sacrifice of a single altar? Is that to be borne, that the pagan should sacrifice and the Christian be present? “Let them drink in,” he says, “let them drink in, even unwilling, smoke with their eyes, symphony with their ears, ash with their throats, frankincense with their nostrils, and though they turn their faces away, let the cinder-ash stirred from our hearths spatter their faces.”

Non illi satis sunt lavacra, non porticus, non plateae occupatae simulacris? Etiamne in communi illo concilio non erit communis conditio? Obstringetur pia senatus portio obtestantium vocibus, adjurantium sacramentis.

Are the baths not enough for them, nor the porticoes, nor the streets occupied with simulacra? And even in that common council will there not be a common condition? The pious portion of the senate will be bound by the voices of those calling upon, by the sacraments of those adjuring.

Si refutet, videbitur mendacium prodere: 841 si acquiescat, sacrilegium confiteri.

If he refutes, he will seem to disclose a lie: 841 if he acquiesces, to confess sacrilege.

32. Ubi, inquit, in leges vestras et verba jurabimus? Ergo mens vestra, quae legibus tenetur inclusa, ceremoniis gentium suffragium colligit, fidem stringit? Jam non solum praesentium, sed absentium etiam, et quod est amplius, imperatores, fides vestra pulsatur; vos enim cogitis, si jubetis.

32. “Where,” he says, “shall we swear to your laws and words? So then does your mind, which is held enclosed by the laws, collect suffrage for the ceremonies of the nations, bind faith? Now not only of those present, but even of those absent—and, what is more, of the emperors—your good faith is being assailed; for you do compel, if you command.”

Constantius augustae memoriae nondum sacris initiatus mysteriis, contaminari se putavit, si aram illam videret. Jussit auferri, non jussit reponi. Illud auctoritatem facti habet, hoc praecepti non habet.

Constantius, of august memory, not yet initiated into the sacred mysteries, thought himself contaminated if he should see that altar. He ordered it to be removed; he did not order it to be replaced. The former has the authority of a deed; the latter does not have the authority of a precept.

33. Nemo sibi de absentia blandiatur. Praesentior est, qui se animis inserit, quam qui oculis protestatur. Plus enim est mente connecti, quam corpore copulari.

33. Let no one flatter himself because of absence. He is more present who inserts himself into minds than he who makes protestation to the eyes. For it is more to be connected in mind than to be coupled in body.

Vos senatus cogendi concilii praesules habet, vobis coit: vobis conscientiam suam, non diis gentium praestat: vos liberis suis, non tamen fidei suae praefert. Haec est charitas expetenda, haec est charitas major imperio, si fides tuta sit, quae servat imperium.

He has you as presidents for convening the council of the senate; it assembles before you: to you he presents his conscience, not to the gods of the nations: he prefers you to his own children, yet not to his own faith. This is the charity to be desired, this is a charity greater than the empire, if the faith be secure, which preserves the empire.

34. Sed fortasse aliquem moveat ita fidelissimum principem destitutum: proinde quasi meritorum pretium caducis aestimetur praesentium. Quis enim sapiens non in orbe quodam atque circuitu locata humanarum rerum novit negotia; quia non eosdem semper successus habent: sed variant status, et mutant vices?

34. But perhaps it may trouble someone that so most faithful a prince was left abandoned: just as if the reward of merits were assessed by the perishable things of the present. For what wise man does not know that the affairs of human things are set in a certain orb and circuit; since they do not always have the same successes, but states vary, and vicissitudes change?

35. Quem beatiorem Cneio Pompeio Romana templa miserunt? At is cum tribus triumphis terrarum cinxisset orbem, pulsus acie, bello profugus, et sui terminis exsul imperii, Canopei manu spadonis occubuit.

35. Whom did the Roman temples send forth more blessed than Gnaeus Pompeius? But he, when with three triumphs he had encircled the orb of lands, driven from the battle-line, a fugitive in war, and an exile from the boundaries of his own imperium, fell by the hand of a eunuch at Canopus.

36. Quem nobiliorem Cyro Persarum totius Orientis terrae regem dederunt? Is quoque cum principes potentissimos adversantes vicisset, victos reservasset, muliebribus armis fusus interiit. Et ille rex qui superatos etiam consessus honore donaverat, exsecto capite et intra utrem plenum cruoris, satiari jussus, incluso, femineis imperiis ludibrio fuit.

36. What nobler king did the lands of the whole East give to the Persians than Cyrus? He too, though he had conquered the most potent princes set against him and had spared the vanquished, was routed by womanly arms and perished. And that king who had even endowed the overthrown with the honor of a shared seat, with his head cut off and, shut within a wineskin full of gore, bidden to be sated, was made a mockery by feminine commands.

Adeo in istius vitae curriculo non paria paribus, sed longe diversa referuntur!

So truly, in the course of this life, not equal things to equals are rendered, but things far diverse!

37. Quem etiam magis sacrificiis deditum, quam Carthaginensium ducem Hamilcarem reperimus? Qui cum toto praelii tempore inter acies positus dimicantes, sacrificium faceret; ubi partem suorum victam esse cognovit, in ipsos quos adolebat, se praecipitavit ignes: ut eos vel corpore suo restingueret, quos sibi nihil profuisse cognoverat.

37. Whom do we find even more devoted to sacrifices than Hamilcar, leader of the Carthaginians? Who, during the whole time of the battle, positioned among the battle-lines as they fought, was performing sacrifice; when he learned that a portion of his men had been defeated, he hurled himself into the very fires which he was kindling: so that he might extinguish them even with his own body, those which he had realized had profited him nothing.

84238. Nam de Juliano quid loquar? qui cum responsis haruspicum male credulus esset, ademit sibi subsidia revertendi. Ergo in communi casu non est communis offensa; neminem etenim promissa nostra luserunt.

84238. For what shall I say about Julian? who, being ill‑advisedly credulous of the responses of the haruspices, took away from himself the means of returning. Therefore, in a common calamity there is not a common offense; for our promises have deceived no one.

39. Respondi lacessentibus tamquam non lacessitus; refellendae etenim Relationis, non exponendae superstitionis mihi studium fuit. Te tamen, imperator, ipsa eorum relatio faciat cautiorem. Nam cum de superioribus principibus texuisset, quia prior eorum numerus ceremonias patrum coluit, recentior non removit; addidisset etiam: si exemplum religio veterum non facit, faciat dissimulatio proximorum; evidenter docuit quid et fidei tuae debeas, ut gentilitii ritus non sequaris exemplum: et pietati, ut fratris statuta non violes.

39. I replied to those provoking as though not provoked; for my zeal was for refuting the Report, not for exposing superstition. Yet let their very report make you, emperor, more cautious. For when he had woven a case about former princes—that the earlier number of them cultivated the ceremonies of the fathers, the more recent did not remove them—he even added: if the religion of the ancients does not make a precedent, let the dissimulation of those nearest do so; he plainly taught what you owe both to your faith, that you not follow the example of gentile rites, and to piety, that you not violate your brother’s statutes.

Si enim pro suis dumtaxat partibus eorum dissimulationem principum praedicarunt, qui cum essent christiani, decreta tamen gentilium minime removerunt: quanto magis amori debes deferre fraterno, ut qui dissimulare deberes, etiamsi quid forsitan non probares, ne fraternis derogares statutis, et nunc teneas quod et fidei tuae, et germanitatis necessitudini judicas convenire.

If indeed for their own side only they have proclaimed the dissimulation of those princes who, although they were Christians, nevertheless by no means removed the decrees of the gentiles: how much more ought you to defer to fraternal love, so that you, who ought to dissimulate, even if perhaps you did not approve something, might not derogate from your brother’s statutes, and now hold what you judge to be fitting both to your faith and to the necessitude of brotherhood.

EPISTOLA XXI.

EPISTLE 21.

Excusat Ambrosius quod vocatus non venerit ad consistorium, asserens in causa fidei vel ecclesiastica judicare nisi sacerdotes neminem debere; nec se in eo contumacem, quod injuriam ordint suo non inurat. Addit Auxentium forte Judaeos aut infideles electurum judicum loco, id est, Christi inimicissimos: nec recusare quominus in Ecclesia vel in synodo de his disputaret: haec demum se coram fuisse dicturum, nisi a coepiscopis et populo esset prohibitus.

Ambrose excuses that, though called, he did not come to the consistory, asserting that in a cause of faith or an ecclesiastical matter no one ought to judge except priests; nor is he in this contumacious, for the reason that he does not brand an injury upon his own order. He adds that Auxentius would perhaps choose Jews or unbelievers in the place of judges, that is, those most inimical to Christ; nor does he refuse to dispute about these things in the Church or in a synod: that he would, finally, have said these things in person, had he not been prohibited by his fellow-bishops and by the people.

Clementissimo imperatori, et beatissimo Augusto VALENTINIANO, AMBROSIUS episcopus.

To the most clement emperor, and most blessed Augustus VALENTINIAN, AMBROSE bishop.

1. Dalmatius me tribunus et notarius mandato, ut allegavit, clementiae convenit tuae, postulans ut et ipse judices legerem, sicut elegisset Auxentius. Nec tamen expressit eorum nomina, qui fuerant postulati: sed id addidit, quod in consistorio esset futura certatio, arbitro pietatis judicio tuae.

1. Dalmatius, tribune and notary, met with me by the mandate, as he alleged, of your clemency, requesting that I too choose judges, just as Auxentius had chosen. Yet he did not specify the names of those who had been postulated; but he added this, that in the consistory there would be a contest, with the judgment of your Piety as arbiter.

2. Cui rei respondeo, ut arbitror, competenter. Nec quisquam contumacem judicare me debet, cum hoc asseram, quod augustae memoriae pater tuus non solum sermone respondit, sed etiam legibus suis sanxit: In causa fidei vel ecelesiastici alicujus ordinis eum judicare debere, qui nec munere impar sit, nec jure dissimilis; haec enim verba rescripti sunt, hoc est, sacerdotes de sacerdotibus voluit judicare. Quinetiam si alias quoque argueretur episcopus, et morum esset examinanda causa, etiam haec voluit ad episcopale judicium pertinere.

2. To this matter I reply, as I think, competently. Nor ought anyone to judge me contumacious, when I assert this, which your father of august memory not only answered in speech, but also sanctioned by his laws: In a cause of faith or of some ecclesiastical order, he who is to judge ought to be neither unequal in office nor dissimilar in right; for these are the words of the rescript, that is, he wished priests to be judged by priests. Moreover, even if a bishop were also accused on other grounds, and the case of morals were to be examined, he wished that this too should pertain to episcopal judgment.

3. Quis igitur contumaciter respondit clementiae tuae? Ille qui te patris similem esse desiderat, an qui vult esse dissimilem? Nisi forte vilis quibusdam tanti imperatoris aestimatur sententia, cujus et fides confessionis constantia comprobata est, et sapientia melioratae reipublicae profectibus praedicatur.

3. Who then answered your clemency contumaciously? He who desires you to be like your father, or he who wishes you to be dissimilar? Unless perhaps the sentence of so great an emperor is esteemed cheap by certain people, whose faith has been proved by the constancy of his confession, and whose wisdom is proclaimed by the advancements of an ameliorated republic.

4. Quando audisti, clementissime Imperator, in causa fidei laicos de episcopo judicasse? Ita ergo quadam adulatione curvamur, ut sacerdotalis juris simus immemores, et quod Deus donavit mihi, hoc ipse aliis putem esse credendum? Si docendus est episcopus a laico, quid sequetur?

4. When have you heard, most clement Emperor, in a cause of faith the laity to have judged concerning a bishop? Thus then by a certain adulation we are bent, so that we become forgetful of sacerdotal right, and that what God has granted to me, this I myself should think must be believed by others? If a bishop is to be taught by a layman, what will follow?

Laicus ergo disputet, et episcopus audiat: episcopus discat a laico. At certe 861 si vel Scripturarum seriem divinarum, vel vetera tempora retractemus, quis est qui abnuat in causa fidei, in causa, inquam, fidei episcopos solere de imperatoribus Christianis, non imperatores de episcopis judicare?

Therefore let the layman dispute, and let the bishop listen: let the bishop learn from the layman. But surely 861 if we either retrace the sequence of the Divine Scriptures, or recall ancient times, who is there who would refuse to admit that in the cause of faith—in the cause, I say, of faith—bishops are wont to judge concerning Christian emperors, not emperors concerning bishops?

5. Eris, Deo favente, etiam senectutis maturitate provectior, et tunc de hoc censebis qualis ille episcopus sit, qui laicis jus sacerdotale substernit. Pater tuus, Deo favente, vir maturioris aevi, dicebat: Non est meum judicare inter episcopos; tua nunc dicit clementia: Ego debeo judicare. Et ille baptizatus in Christo inhabilem se ponderi tanti putabat esse judicii: clementia tua, cui adhuc emerenda baptismatis sacramenta servantur, arrogat de fide judicium; cum fidei ipsius sacramenta non noverit?

5. You will be, God favoring, even more advanced by the maturity of old age, and then you will assess this: what sort of bishop he is who lays the sacerdotal right beneath laymen. Your father, God favoring, a man of more mature age, used to say: It is not mine to judge among bishops; your clemency now says: I ought to judge. And he, baptized in Christ, deemed himself unfit for the weight of so great a judgment: your clemency, for whom the sacraments of baptism are still reserved to be obtained, arrogates a judgment concerning faith; though he does not know the sacraments of the faith itself?

6. Quales autem elegerit judices, possumus existimationi relinquere, quando eorum nomina timet prodere. Veniant plane, si qui sunt, ad Ecclesiam: audiant cum populo, non ut quisquam judex resideat, sed ut unusquisque de suo affectu habeat examen, eligat quem sequatur. Agitur de istius Ecclesiae sacerdote: si audierit illum populus, et putaverit melius disputare, sequatur fidem ejus: non invidebo.

6. What sort of judges he has chosen, we can leave to estimation, since he fears to disclose their names. Let them indeed come, if there are any, to the Church: let them listen with the people, not that anyone should sit as judge, but that each may have an examination from his own affect, let him choose whom he will follow. It is a matter concerning the priest of this Church: if the people shall have heard him, and shall have thought him to dispute better, let them follow his faith: I will not envy.

7. Omitto quia jam ipse populus judicavit: taceo quia eum, quem habet, de patre tuae clementiae postulavit: taceo quia pater pietatis tuae quietem futuram spopondit, si electus susciperet sacerdotium. Hanc fidem secutus sum promissorum.

7. I omit, because now the people themselves have judged: I am silent, because the one whom it has, it requested from the father of your Clemency: I am silent, because the father of your Piety promised future quietude, if the chosen one should assume the priesthood. I have followed this good faith of the promises.

8. Quod si de aliquorum peregrinorum assentatione se jactat, ibi sit episcopus, unde sunt ii, qui eum episcopatus putant nomine esse donandum. Nam ego nec episcopum novi, nec unde sit scio.

8. But if he vaunts himself on the adulation of certain foreigners, let him be a bishop there, from where are those who think he ought to be given the name of the episcopate. For I neither know the bishop, nor do I know whence he is.

9. Ubi illud constituimus, Imperator, quod jam ipse tuum judicium declarasti; immo etiam dedisti leges, nec cui esset liberum aliud judicare? Quod cum praescripsisti aliis, praescripsisti et tibi: Leges enim imperator fert, quas primus ipse custodiat. Visne igitur experiar, ut incipiant ii, qui judices eliguntur, aut adversus tuam venire sententiam, aut certe excusare quod imperatoris tam severo, et tam districto imperio non potuerint obviare?

9. Where did we establish that, Emperor—what you yourself have already declared by your judgment; nay rather you have even given laws, that no one be at liberty to judge otherwise? What you have prescribed to others, you have prescribed to yourself as well: for the emperor bears the laws, which he himself first should keep. Would you then have me try, that those who are chosen as judges begin either to come against your sentence, or at least to excuse themselves that they have not been able to obviate the emperor’s so severe and so strict authority?

10. Sed hoc contumacis, non modesti est sacerdotis. Ecce, imperator, legem tuam jam ex parte rescindis: sed utinam non ex parte, sed in universum! legem enim tuam nollem esse supra Dei legem.

10. But this is the behavior of a contumacious, not a modest priest. Behold, emperor, you already in part rescind your law: but would that not in part, but universally! for I would not wish your law to be above the law of God.

Dei lex nos docuit quid sequamur, humanae leges hoc docere non possunt. Extorquere solent timidis commutationem, fidem inspirare non possunt.

The law of God has taught us what we should follow; human laws cannot teach this. They are wont to extort a change from the timid; they cannot inspire faith.

86211. Quis erit igitur ille, qui cum legat per tot provincias uno momento esse mandatum, ut quicumque obviaverit imperatori, feriatur gladio: quicumque Dei templum non tradiderit, protinus occidatur? quis, inquam, est qui possit vel unus, vel inter paucos dicere imperatori: Lex tua mihi non probatur? Non permittitur hoc dicere sacerdotibus, permittitur laicis?

86211. Who then will be that man, who, when he reads that through so many provinces there is, in one moment, a mandate that whoever meets the emperor be struck with the sword: whoever does not hand over the temple of God be immediately slain? who, I say, is there who can, either alone or among a few, say to the emperor: Your law is not approved by me? Is it not permitted to priests to say this, is it permitted to laymen?

Et judicabit de fide, qui aut gratiam sperat, aut metuit offensam?

And will he judge of faith, who either hopes for favor, or fears offense?

12. Deinde ipse committam, ut eligam judices laicos, qui cum tenuerint fide veritatem, aut proscribantur, aut necentur, quod lex de fide lata decernit? Ego igitur aut praevaricationi offeram homines, aut poenae?

12. Then shall I myself commit, to choose lay judges, who, when they have held the truth of the faith, are either proscribed or slain, as the law enacted concerning the faith decrees? Shall I therefore offer men either to prevarication, or to punishment?

13. Non tanti est Ambrosius, ut propter se dejiciat sacerdotium. Non tanti est unius vita, quanti est dignitas omnium sacerdotum, quorum de consilio ista dictavi, intimantibus ne forte etiam gentilis esset aliquis, aut Judaeus, qui ab Auxentio esset electus, quibus traderemus de Christo triumphum, si de Christo judicium committeremus. Quid illos aliud, nisi Christi injuriam audire delectat?

13. Ambrose is not of such worth that, on his own account, he should cast down the priesthood. The life of one is not worth as much as the dignity of all the priests, at whose counsel I have dictated these things, they intimating that perhaps there might even be some pagan, or a Jew, who would be chosen by Auxentius, to whom we would hand over a triumph over Christ, if we were to commit a judgment concerning Christ. What else delights them, except to hear an injury to Christ?

Quid illis aliud potest placere, nisi (quod absit) ut Christi divinitas denegetur? Cum iis plane bene convenit [Ariano], qui creaturam Christum dicit, quod etiam gentiles ac Judaei promptissime confitentur.

What else can please them, except (far be it!) that the divinity of Christ be denied? It plainly accords well with them—the [Arian], who says that Christ is a creature—which even the gentiles and the Jews most readily confess.

14. Hoc scriptum est in Ariminensi synodo; meritoque concilium illud exhorreo, sequens tractatum concilii Nicaeni, a quo me nec mors, nec gladius poterit separare. Quam fidem etiam parens clementiae tuae Theodosius beatissimus imperator et sequitur, et probavit. Hanc fidem Galliae tenent, hanc Hispaniae, et cum pia divini Spiritus confessione custodiunt.

14. This was written in the Synod of Ariminum; and with good reason I shudder at that council, following the tractate of the Council of Nicaea, from which neither death nor the sword will be able to separate me. Which faith also the father of your clemency, Theodosius, the most blessed emperor, both follows and has approved. This faith Gaul holds, this Spain, and they keep it with the pious confession of the Divine Spirit.

15. Si tractandum est, tractare in Ecclesia didici: quod majores fecerunt mei. Si conferendum de fide, sacerdotum debet esse ista collatio, sicut factum est sub Constantino augustae memoriae principe, qui nullas leges ante praemisit, sed liberum dedit judicium sacerdotibus. Factum est etiam sub Constantio augustae memoriae imperatore, paternae dignitatis haerede: sed quod bene coepit, aliter consummatum est.

15. If something must be handled, I have learned to handle it in the Church: as my elders did. If a conference is to be held about the faith, this conference ought to belong to the priests, just as it was done under Constantine, a prince of august memory, who promulgated no laws beforehand, but gave free judgment to the priests. It was done also under Constantius, an emperor of august memory, the heir of his father’s dignity: but what began well was consummated otherwise.

Nam episcopi sinceram primo scripserant fidem: sed dum volunt quidam de fide intra palatium judicare, id egerunt, ut circumscriptionibus illa episcoporum judicia mutarentur. Qui tamen inflexam statim revocavere sententiam. Et certe major numerus Arimini, Nicaeni concilii fidem probavit, [Ariana] decreta damnavit.

For the bishops had at first written a sincere faith: but while certain men wished to judge about the faith within the palace, they brought it about that by circumventions those judgments of the bishops were changed. They, however, immediately recalled the bent sentence. And certainly the greater number at Ariminum approved the faith of the Nicene council, condemned the [Ariana] decrees.

86316. Si ad synodum provocat Auxentius, ut de fide disputet (licet non sit necesse propter unum tot episcopos fatigari, qui etiam si angelus de coelo esset, paci Ecclesiarum non deberet praeferri);, cum audiero synodum congregari, et ipse non deero. Tolle igitur legem, si vis esse certamen.

86316. If Auxentius appeals to a synod, to dispute about the faith (although it is not necessary that on account of one man so many bishops be wearied, who, even if he were an angel from heaven, ought not to be preferred to the peace of the Churches);, when I shall have heard that a synod is being convened, I too will not be absent. Remove, therefore, the law, if you wish there to be a contest.

17. Venissem, imperator, ad consistorium clementiae tuae, ut haec coram suggererem; si me vel episcopi, vel populus permisissent, dicentes de fide in Ecclesia coram populo debere tractari.

17. I would have come, emperor, to the consistory of your clemency, to suggest these things in person; if either the bishops or the people had permitted me, saying that matters concerning the faith ought to be handled in the Church before the people.

18. Atque utinam, Imperator, non denuntiasses, ut quo vellem pergerem! Quotidie prodibam, nemo me asservabat. Debuisti me, quo volueras, destinare, quem ipse omnibus offerebam.

18. And would that, Emperor, you had not given orders that I should proceed whither I wished! Every day I went forth; no one kept me under guard. You ought to have designated me whither you had wished, whom I myself was offering to all.

Nunc mihi a sacerdotibus dicitur: Non multum interest, utrum volens relinquas, an tradas altare Christi; cum enim reliqueris, trades.

Now it is said to me by the priests: There is not much difference whether you willingly relinquish, or deliver up, the altar of Christ; for when you have relinquished it, you will deliver it up.

19. Atque utinam liquido mihi pateret quod Arianis Ecclesia minime traderetur! sponte me offerrem tuae pietatis arbitrio. Sed si ego solus interstrepo, cur etiam de aliis omnibus invadendis Ecclesiis est praeceptum?

19. And would that it were clear to me that the Church would by no means be handed over to the Arians! I would of my own accord offer myself to the arbitrament of your piety. But if I alone am the one to raise an objection, why has there also been a precept concerning the invading of all the other Churches?

Utinam confirmetur, ut Ecclesiis nullus molestus sit! Opto ut de me, qualis videtur, sententia proferatur.

Would that it be confirmed, that no one be vexatious to the Churches! I desire that, concerning me, such a sentence be proffered as seems fitting.

20. Dignanter igitur, Imperator, accipe quod ad consistorium venire non potui. Ego in consistorio nisi pro te stare non didici: et intra palatium certare non possum, qui palatii secreta nec quaero, nec novi.

20. Deign, therefore, Emperor, to accept that I was not able to come to the consistory. I have not learned to stand in the consistory except on your behalf: and within the palace I cannot contend, I who neither seek nor know the secrets of the palace.

21. Ego Ambrosius episcopus hunc libellum obtuli clementissimo imperatori, et beatissimo augusto Valentiniano.

21. I, Ambrose the bishop, offered this little book to the most clement emperor, and to the most blessed Augustus Valentinian.

SERMO CONTRA AUXENTIUM DE BASILICIS TRADENDIS.

SERMON AGAINST AUXENTIUS ON THE SURRENDER OF THE BASILICAS.

Populi ob imperialem jussum sollicitudinem levaturus, responsum suum exponit, additque ad consistorium se non ivisse, quod basilicae traditionem esset veritus. Tum adversariis ad disceptandum in Ecclesia provocatis, negat se armis exterreri: suoque de sacris vasis responso memorato, paratum se ad certamina esse testatur. Eludi non posse Dei decretum, nec praesidium ipsius superari, sed in servis suis pati eumdem velle.

Intending to lighten the people’s solicitude on account of the imperial injunction, he sets forth his response, and adds that he did not go to the consistory, because he had feared the handing over (traditio) of the basilicas. Then, having challenged the adversaries to dispute in the Church, he denies that he is terrified by arms; and, with his response about the sacred vessels recalled, he testifies that he is prepared for contests. That the decree of God cannot be eluded, nor his protection overcome, but that he wills to suffer the same in his servants.

Cum ipse antea non fuerit captus, liquere quam inaniter haeretici tumultuentur. Deinde ubi Nabuthae historiam, et Christi ingressum in Jerusalem rei praesenti accomodavit, Auxentii perstringit crudelem legem, solutisque Arianorum objectionibus, libenter se coram populo disputaturum praedicat: Auxentium vero jam a paganis, quos in judices elegerat, damnatum, sicut et a Paulo et Christo ipso. Quod idem haereticus ad Caesarem provocaret, eum oblitum anni superioris: et [Arianos], dum servis Christi conflant invidiam, multo pejores esse Judaeis: Ecclesiam enim non Caesaris, sed Christi praeferre imaginem.

Since he himself had not previously been seized, it is clear how vainly the heretics tumultuate. Then, when he applied the history of Naboth and Christ’s entry into Jerusalem to the present matter, he lashes Auxentius’s cruel law; and, the objections of the Arians having been resolved, he proclaims that he will gladly dispute before the people; but that Auxentius has already been condemned by the pagans whom he chose as judges, as also by Paul and by Christ himself. That this same heretic appeals to the Caesar, being forgetful of the previous year; and that the [Arians], while they concoct envy against the servants of Christ, are much worse than the Jews: for the Church displays not Caesar’s image, but Christ’s.

Sub quae ubi pauca de suo responso et hymnis adjecit, se non inobedientem, at imperatorem Ecclesiae filium, et Auxentium plusquam Judaeum esse declarat.

Upon which, when he had added a few things about his response and hymns, he declares himself not disobedient, but that the emperor is a son of the Church, and that Auxentius is more than a Jew.

1. Video vos praeter solitum subito esse turbatos, atque [asservantes] mei. Miror864 quid hoc sit, nisi forte quia per tribunos me vidistis aut audistis imperiali mandato esse conventum; ut quo vellem, abirem hinc: et si qui vellent, sequendi potestatem haberent. Metuistis ergo ne Ecclesiam desererem, et dum saluti meae timeo, vos relinquerem?

1. I see you, beyond the usual, to have been suddenly disturbed, and [those guarding] me. I wonder864 what this is, unless perhaps because through the tribunes you have seen or heard that by imperial mandate I have been convened; that to wherever I wished, I might depart hence; and that, if any wished, they would have the power of following. You feared therefore lest I should desert the Church, and that, while I fear for my safety, I would leave you?

Sed quid et ipse mandaverim, potuistis advertere: deserendae Ecclesiae mihi voluntatem subesse non posse; quia plus Dominum mundi, quam saeculi hujus imperatorem timerem: sane si me vis aliqua abduceret ab Ecclesia, carnem meam exturbari posse, non mentem: paratum me esse, ut si ille faceret, quod solet esse regiae potestatis; ego subirem, quod sacerdotis esse consuevit.

But what I myself also had enjoined, you were able to notice: that a will of deserting the Church could not lie within me; because I feared the Lord of the world more than the emperor of this age: indeed, if some force were to draw me away from the Church, my flesh could be driven out, not my mind: that I was prepared, so that if he should do what is wont to belong to royal power, I would undergo what is accustomed to be of the priest.

2. Quid ergo turbamini? Volens numquam vos deseram, coactus repugnare non novi. Dolere potero, potero flere, potero gemere: adversus arma, milites, Gothos quoque lacrymae meae arma sunt; talia enim munimenta sunt sacerdotis.

2. Why then are you disturbed? Willingly I will never desert you; being compelled I do not know to resist. I shall be able to grieve, I shall be able to weep, I shall be able to groan: against arms, soldiers, even Goths, my tears are my arms; for such are the muniments of a priest.

Aliter nec debeo, nec possum resistere: fugere autem et relinquere Ecclesiam non soleo; ne quis gravioris poenae metu factum interpretetur. Scitis et vos ipsi quod imperatoribus soleam deferre, non cedere: suppliciis me libenter offerre, nec metuere quae parantur.

Otherwise I neither ought nor am able to resist; but to flee and relinquish the Church I am not wont, lest anyone interpret the deed as done from fear of a graver penalty. You yourselves also know that I am accustomed to defer to emperors, not to cede: to offer myself gladly to punishments, and not to fear what is being prepared.

3. Utinam essem securus quod Ecclesia haereticis minime traderetur? Ad palatium imperatoris irem libenter, si hoc congrueret sacerdotis officio; ut in palatio magis certarem, quam in Ecclesia. Sed in consistorio non reus solet Christus esse, sed judex.

3. Would that I were assured that the Church would by no means be handed over to heretics? I would go gladly to the emperor’s palace, if this were congruent with the sacerdotal office; so that I might contend rather in the palace than in the Church. But in the consistory Christ is not wont to be the defendant, but the judge.

Causam fidei in Ecclesia agendam quis abnuat? Si quis confidit, huc veniat: inclinatum jam vel imperatoris judicium, quod lata lege patefecit, quod impugnat fidem: vel sperata ambientium quorumdam studia non requirat. Non committo, ut quisquam vendat injuriam Christi.

Who would refuse that the cause of the faith be pled in the Church? If anyone is confident, let him come here: the emperor’s judgment already inclined, which he has laid open by the law enacted, which impugns the faith: or let him not require the hoped-for zeal of certain canvassers. I do not permit that anyone sell the injury of Christ.

4. Circumfusi milites, armorum crepitus, quibus vallata est Ecclesia, fidem non terrent meam: sed mentem exagitant, ne dum me tenetis, perniciosum aliquid vestrae oboriatur saluti. Ego enim jam didici non timere: sed vobis timere plus coepi. Sinite, quaeso, vestrum sacerdotem congredi: habemus adversarium qui lacessit; adversarius enim nosterdiabolus, sicut leo rugiens circuit, quaerens quem devoret, ut apostolus dixit (I Pet.

4. The soldiers massed around, the clatter of arms, with which the Church is ramparted, do not terrify my faith: but they agitate my mind, lest, while you hold me, something pernicious should arise to your salvation. For I have now learned not to fear; but I have begun to fear more for you. Allow, I beg, your priest to engage: we have an adversary who provokes; for our adversarythe devil, like a roaring lion, goes around, seeking whom he may devour, as the Apostle said (1 Pet.

V, 8). Accepit sine dubio, accepit (non fallimur, sed admonemur) tentandi hujusmodi potestatem; ne forte corporis mei vulneribus possim a fidei intentione revocari. Legistis et vos quia multis his tentavit sanctum Job diabolus: ad postremum potestatem hujusmodi petiit, et accepit, ut tentaret corpus ejus, quod perfudit ulceribus.

5, 8). He received, without doubt, he received (we are not deceived, but admonished) a power of tempting of this sort; lest by chance I might be able, by the wounds of my body, to be called back from the intention of faith. You too have read that by many such things the devil tempted holy Job: at last he asked for, and received, such a power, that he might test his body, which he drenched with ulcers.

8655. Cum esset propositum ut Ecclesiae vasa jam traderemus, hoc responsi reddidi: me, si de meis aliquid posceretur, aut fundus, aut domus, aut aurum, aut argentum, id quod mei juris esset, libenter offerre: templo Dei nihil posse decerpere, nec tradere illud, quod custodiendum, non tradendum acceperim. Deinde consulere me etiam imperatoris saluti; quia nec mihi expediret tradere, nec illi accipere; accipiat enim vocem liberi sacerdotis, si vult sibi esse consultum, recedat a Christi injuria.

8655. Since it had been proposed that we already hand over the vessels of the Church, I returned this answer: that if anything were asked of my own—either an estate, or a house, or gold, or silver—that which was of my own right, I would gladly offer it; that from the temple of God I could detach nothing, nor hand over that which I received to be kept, not to be handed over. Then that I also look out for the emperor’s welfare; because it would be not expedient for me to hand over, nor for him to receive; for let him accept the voice of a free priest, if he wishes to be well-advised for himself: let him withdraw from an injury to Christ.

6. Haec plena humilitatis sunt, et, ut arbitror, plena affectus ejus quem imperatori debet sacerdos. Sed quialucta nobis est non solum adversus carnem et sanguinem; sed etiam, quod gravius est, adversus spiritalia nequitiae, quae sunt in coelestibus (Ephes. VI, 12), tentator ille diabolus per ministros suos certamen auget, vulneribus corporis mei experiendum arbitratur.

6. These things are full of humility, and, as I judge, full of the affection which a priest owes to the emperor. But becauseour wrestling is not only against flesh and blood; but also, which is more grievous, against spiritual wickedness which is in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6, 12), that tempter the devil, through his ministers, augments the contest, and deems that I must be tried with wounds to my body.

Scio, fratres, vulnera haec, quae pro Christo excipimus, non esse vulnera, quibus vita non amittitur, sed propagatur. Sinite, quaeso, esse certamen: spectatores vos esse decet. Considerate Quia si quidem habet civitas vel athletam, vel alterius nobilis artis peritum, optat offerre certamini.

I know, brothers, that these wounds, which we receive for Christ, are not wounds by which life is lost, but by which it is propagated. Allow, I beg, that there be a contest: it befits you to be spectators. Considerate Quia if indeed a city has either an athlete, or one skilled in another noble art, it desires to offer him to the contest.

Cur in majoribus rebus repudiatis, quod vel in minoribus velle consuestis? Non metuit arma, non barbaros, qui mortem non timet, qui nulla carnis voluptate retinetur.

Why, in greater matters, do you repudiate what you are wont even in lesser to will? He who does not fear death does not fear arms, nor barbarians, who is restrained by no pleasure of the flesh.

7. Certe si Dominus huic nos certamini deputavit, frustra pervigiles tot noctibus et diebus custodias exhibuistis et excubias: implebitur Christi voluntas. Omnipotens enim noster est Dominus Jesus, haec est fides nostra; et ideo quod fieri mandat, implebitur: nec convenit nos divinae obviare sententiae.

7. Surely, if the Lord has deputed us to this contest, in vain have you exhibited vigils and watches through so many nights and days: the will of Christ will be fulfilled. For our Lord Jesus is Omnipotent; this is our faith; and therefore what he commands to be done will be fulfilled: nor is it fitting for us to oppose the divine sentence.

8. Audistis quod hodie lectum sit: Pullum sibi asinae Salvator per apostolos jussit adduci, mandavitque ut si quis resisteret, diceretur:Dominus operam ejus desiderat (Luc. XIX, 35). Quid si et nunc pullum istum asinae, hoc est, ejus animalis quod gravem sarcinam portare consuevit, sicut est humana conditio, cui dicitur: Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis, et onerati estis, et ego vos reficiam: tollite jugum meum, quia leve est (Matth. XI, 28); quid si inquam, pullum istum ad se modo jussit adduci, missis apostolis illis, qui jam exuti corpore incomprehensibilem oculis nostris Angelorum speciem gerunt?

8. You have heard what was read today: the Savior ordered that the colt of an ass be led to himself through the apostles, and he commanded that, if anyone should resist, it be said:The Lord desires his service (Luke 19, 35). What if even now that colt of an ass, that is, of that animal which is accustomed to carry a heavy burden, as is the human condition, to which it is said: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you: take my yoke, because it is light (Matthew 11, 28); what if, I say, he has just now ordered that this colt be brought to himself, having sent those apostles who now, stripped of the body, bear to our eyes the incomprehensible appearance of the Angels?

Nonne si ab aliquo resistatur, dicent: Dominus operam ejus desiderat? Si resistat vel vitae hujus cupiditas, si resistat caro et sanguis, si resistat conversatio corporalis; quia aliquibus forsitan grati videmur. Sed qui nos hic diligit, multo amplius diliget, si sinat fieri hostiam Christi; quia dissolvi, et cum Christo esse multo melius: etsi manere in carne magis necessarium propter vos (Philip. I, 23). Nihil est ergo quod vereamini, fratres dilectissimi; scio enim quia quidquid passus fuero, pro Christo patiar.

Will they not, if anyone resists, say: The Lord desires his service? If the desire of this life resists, if flesh and blood resists, if bodily association resists; for to some perhaps we seem pleasing. But whoever loves us here will love us much more, if he allows us to be made a victim for Christ; for to be dissolved and to be with Christ is much better; though to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake (Philip. 1, 23). Therefore there is nothing for you to fear, most beloved brothers; for I know that whatever I shall have suffered, I shall suffer for Christ.

Et 866 legi quod eos timere non debeam, qui possunt carnem occidere. Et audivi dicentem: Qui perdiderit animam suam propter me, inveniet eam (Matth. X, 39).

And 866 I read that I ought not to fear those who can kill the flesh. And I heard one saying: Whoever loses his soul on account of me will find it (Matth. 10, 39).

9. Ergo si vult Dominus, certum est quod nullus obsistat. Quod si adhuc nostra differt certamina, quid veremini? Servum Christi non custodia corporalis, sed Domini providentia sepire consuevit.

9. Therefore, if the Lord wills, it is certain that no one withstands. But if our contests are still deferred, why do you fear? The servant of Christ is wont to be hedged about not by corporal custody, but by the Lord's providence.

10. Turbati estis quia apertas reperistis geminas fores, quas captus oculis quidam, dum hospitium proprium repetit, patefecisse memoratur. In quo cognoscite quod nihil suffragetur humana custodia. Ecce unus qui videndi munus amisit, solvit vestra universa munimina, et custodias lusit: Dominus autem suae misericordiae custodiam non amisit.

10. You are troubled because you found the twin doors open, which a certain man, blind of eyes, while he was returning to his own lodging, is reported to have laid open. In this recognize that human custody avails nothing. Behold, one who lost the gift of seeing loosed all your muniments, and made sport of the guards: but the Lord has not lost the custody of his mercy.

Nonne ante biduum, ut meministis, etiam illud repertum est, quod a parte laeva basilicae ingressus quidam pervius fuit, quem putabatis clausum esse atque munitum? Sepserunt nempe armati basilicam, explorabant hos atque illos aditus: caecitate perfusi sunt, ut quod apertum erat videre non possent: itaque per plurimas noctes quod apertum fuerit, non ignoratis. Desinite ergo sollicitari; quia hoc erit, quod Christus jubet, et quod esse expedit.

Was it not two days ago, as you remember, also found, that on the left side of the basilica a certain ingress was passable, which you supposed to be closed and fortified? For armed men hedged in the basilica, they were reconnoitering these and those approaches: they were suffused with blindness, so that they could not see what was open: and so through very many nights you are not ignorant that it was open. Cease therefore to be solicitous; for this will be what Christ commands, and what it is expedient to be.

11. Denique exempla vobis Legis proferam. Elisaeus quaerebatur a rege Syriae, missus erat exercitus qui eum caperet, circumvallatus erat undique: coepit timere ejus servulus; quia servulus erat, hoc est, non erat liberae mentis et liberae potestatis. Petivit aperiri ejus oculos sanctus propheta, et ait:Respice, et vide quanto plures sint pro nobis, quam contra nos. Et respexit, et vidit angelorum millia (IV Reg.

11. Finally, I will bring forward for you examples of the Law. Elisha was being sought by the king of Syria; an army had been sent to seize him; he was surrounded on all sides: his little servant began to fear; because he was a little servant, that is, he was not of a free mind and free power. The holy prophet asked that his eyes be opened, and said:Look, and see how much more numerous they are who are for us than those who are against us. And he looked, and he saw thousands of angels (4 Kings.

VI, 14 et seq.). Advertistis igitur quod servulos Christi ii magis custodiant, qui non videntur, quam qui videntur. Sed et illi si custodiunt, vestris custodiunt orationibus advocati: legistis nempe eos ipsos, qui Elisaeum quaerebant, ingressos esse Samariam ad eum ipsum, quem capere gestiebant: cui non solum non potuerunt nocere; sed ipsius adversus quem venerant, intercessione servati sunt.

(6, 14 and the following). You have therefore noticed that the servants of Christ are guarded more by those who are not seen than by those who are seen. But even those, if they guard, guard advocated by your prayers: indeed you have read that those very men who were seeking Elisha entered Samaria to that very one whom they were eager to seize: to whom they not only were not able to do harm; but by the intercession of the very one against whom they had come, they were saved.

12. Petrus quoque apostolus utriusque rei vobis edat exemplum (Act. XII, 4 et seq.). Nam ubi eum Herodes quaesivit et cepit, recepit in carcerem; non enim recesserat Dei servulus, sed steterat timoris ignarus. Orabat pro eo Ecclesia, sed apostolus in carcere quiescebat, quod est indicium non timentis.

12. Peter the apostle may also furnish you an example of both matters (Acts 12, 4 and following). For when Herod sought him and seized him, he put him in prison; for the servant of God had not withdrawn, but had stood ignorant of fear. The Church was praying for him, but the apostle was resting in prison, which is an indication of one not fearing.

Missus est Angelus qui dormientem excitaret, per quem Petrus productus e carcere, mortem ad tempus evasit.

An Angel was sent to rouse the sleeper, through whom Peter, led forth from the prison, escaped death for a time.

13. Idem Petrus postea, victo Simone, cum praecepta Dei populo seminaret, doceret castimoniam, excitavit animos gentilium: quibus eum quaerentibus, christianae animae deprecatae sunt, ut paulisper cederet. Et quamvis esset cupidus passionis, tamen contemplatione populi precantis inflexus est; rogabatur enim ut867 ad instituendum et confirmandum populum se reservaret. Quid multa?

13. The same Peter afterwards, with Simon conquered, when he was sowing the precepts of God among the people, teaching chastity, stirred the minds of the gentiles: as they were seeking him, Christian souls besought that he should withdraw for a little while. And although he was eager for martyrdom, nevertheless he was swayed by the contemplation of the praying people; for he was being asked to reserve himself867 for the instructing and confirming of the people. Why say more?

Nocte muros egredi coepit, et videns sibi in porta Christum occurrere, urbemque ingredi, ait: Domine: quo vadis? Respondit Christus: Venio iterum crucifigi. Intellexit Petrus ad suam crucem divinum pertinere responsum; Christus enim non poterat iterum crucifigi, qui carnem passione susceptae mortis exuerat: Quod enim mortuus est, peccato mortuus est semel: quod autem vivit, vivit Deo (Rom.

By night he began to go out through the walls, and seeing Christ meet him at the gate and enter the city, he said: Lord: where are you going? Christ answered: I am coming to be crucified again. Peter understood that the divine response pertained to his own cross; for Christ could not be crucified again, who had stripped off the flesh by the passion of the death he had undertaken: For what he died, he died to sin once; but what he lives, he lives to God (Rom.

VI, 10). Intellexit ergo Petrus quod iterum Christus crucifigendus esset in servulo. Itaque sponte remeavit; interrogantibus Christianis responsum reddidit, statimque correptus, per crucem suam honorificavit Dominum Jesum.

6, 10). Peter therefore understood that Christ was to be crucified again in the servant. And so of his own accord he returned; to the Christians who were questioning he gave his reply, and immediately, having been seized, by his own cross he glorified the Lord Jesus.

14. Videtis igitur quod in servulis suis pati velit Christus. Quid si et huic servulo dicit:Illum volo manere, tu autem me sequere (Joan. XXI, 22); et de hac arbore gustare vult fructum?

14. You see, therefore, that Christ wishes to suffer in his little servants. What if he also says to this servant:I want that one to remain, but you, follow me (John 21, 22); and does he wish to taste the fruit from this tree?

Nam si illius cibus erat, ut faceret voluntatem Patris (Joan. IV, 34): itidem cibus illius est, ut nostris passionibus epuletur. Nonne, ut de ipso Domino sumamus exemplum, quando voluit, passus est: et cum quaereretur, inventus est?

For if his food was to do the will of the Father (John 4, 34): likewise his food is to banquet upon our sufferings. Surely, that we may take an example from the Lord himself, when he willed, he suffered: and when he was sought, he was found?

quando autem hora non venerat passionis (Joan. VII, 30), per medium quaerentium transibat, et videntes eum tenere non poterant? Quod utique evidenter ostendit quia quando Dominus vult, unusquisque invenitur et capitur: quod autem differt, etiamsi quaerentium occurrat oculis, non tenetur.

but when the hour of the Passion had not yet come (John 7, 30), he would pass through the midst of those seeking, and those seeing him were not able to hold him? Which indeed plainly shows that when the Lord wills, each one is found and captured; but when he defers it, even if he meets the eyes of those seeking, he is not held.

15. Ergo ipse non quotidie vel visitandi gratia prodibam, vel pergebam ad martyres? non regiam palatii [c1Kb] praetexebam eundo atque redeundo? Et tamen nemo me tenuit, cum exturbandi me haberent, ut prodiderunt postea, voluntatem, dicentes: Exi de civitate, et vade quo vis.

15. Therefore did I myself not daily either go forth for the sake of visiting, or proceed to the martyrs? Did I not pass along before the royal hall of the palace [c1Kb] in my going and returning? And yet no one detained me, though they had the will to expel me, as they afterwards disclosed, saying: Go out of the city, and go where you wish.

Exspectabam, fateor, magnum aliquid, aut gladium pro Christi nomine, aut incendium: at illi delicias mihi pro passionibus obtulerunt; sed athleta Christi non delicias, sed passiones suas exigit. Nemo ergo vos turbet, quod aut carrum praeparaverunt, aut dura, ut videbatur sibi, Auxentii ipsius, qui se dicit episcopum, ore jactata.

I was expecting, I confess, something great—either a sword for the name of Christ, or a conflagration; but they offered me delicacies in place of passions; yet the athlete of Christ demands not delicacies, but his passions. Therefore let no one trouble you, because either they prepared a cart, or the hard things, as it seemed to him, were boasted by the mouth of Auxentius himself, who calls himself bishop.

16. Plerique narrabant percussores praemissos, poenam mortis esse decretam: nec illa timeo, et ista non desero. Quo enim abibo, ubi non omnia plena gemitus sint, atque lacrymarum; quando per Ecclesias jubentur ejici catholici sacerdotes, resistentes gladio feriri, curiales868 proscribi omnes, nisi mandatum impleverint? Et haec episcopi manu scripta et ore dictata, qui se ut probaret doctissimum, vetus non omisit exemplum, legimus enim in propheta quod viderit falcem volantem (Zach.

16. Many were relating that assassins had been sent ahead, that the penalty of death had been decreed: nor do I fear that, and I do not desert these. For where shall I depart, where are not all things full of groans and of tears; since throughout the Churches the catholic priests are ordered to be cast out, those resisting to be struck by the sword, all the curials868 to be proscribed, unless they have fulfilled the mandate? And these things written by the bishop’s hand and dictated by his mouth, who, in order to prove himself most learned, did not omit an old example, for we read in the prophet that he saw a flying sickle (Zech.

5, 1): hanc imitatus Auxentius gladium volantem per omnes urbes direxit. Et Satanas transfigurat se in angelum lucis, et in malum imitatur ejus potentiam (II Cor. XI, 14).

5, 1): imitating this, Auxentius sent a flying sword through all the cities. And Satan transfigures himself into an angel of light, and in evil he imitates his power (2 Cor. 11, 14).

17. Tu, Domine Jesu, uno momento mundum redemisti: Auxentius uno momento tot populos, quod in ipso est, trucidabit, alios gladio, alios sacrilegio? Meam basilicam petit cruento ore, sanguinolentis manibus. Cui bene praesens respondit lectio:Peccatori autem dixit Deus: Quare tu enarras justitias meas (Psal.

17. You, Lord Jesus, in a single moment redeemed the world: will Auxentius, in a single moment, so far as lies in him, butcher so many peoples, some by the sword, others by sacrilege? He makes for my basilica with bloodstained mouth, with blood-smeared hands. To which the present lection well replied:But to the sinner God said: Why do you recount my justices (Psal.

XLIX, 16)? id est, non convenit paci et furori, non convenit Christo et Belial (II Cor. VI, 15). Meministis etiam quod lectum est hodie Nabuthe (22, q. 8, c. Convenior, þ Nabuthe), sanctum virum possessorem vineae suae, interpellatum petitione regia, ut vineam suam daret; ubi rex, succisis vitibus, olus vile sereret, eumque respondisse: Absit ut ego patrum meorum tradam haereditatem; regem contristatum esse, quod sibi esset alienum jus relatione justa negatum, sed muliebri consilio deceptum. Nabuthe vites suas vel proprio cruore defendit (III Reg.

49, 16)? that is, it does not suit peace and fury; it does not suit Christ and Belial (2 Cor. 6, 15). You remember also what was read today about Naboth (22, q. 8, c. Convenior, þ Nabuthe), a holy man, the possessor of his vineyard, having been pressed by a royal petition to give his vineyard; where the king, with the vines cut down, might sow cheap vegetables, and that he replied: Far be it from me to hand over the inheritance of my fathers; that the king was saddened because a right belonging to another had been denied to him by a just report, but was deceived by womanly counsel. Naboth defended his vines even with his own blood (3 Reg.

XXI, 1 et seq.). Si ille vineam non tradidit suam, nos trademus Ecclesiam Christi?

(21, 1 and following). If he did not hand over his vineyard, shall we hand over the Church of Christ?

18. Quid igitur a me responsam est contumaciter? Dixi enim conventus: Absit a me ut tradam Christi haereditatem. Si ille patrum haereditatem non tradidit, ego tradam Christi haereditatem?

18. What then did I answer contumaciously? For I said to the assembly: Far be it from me to hand over the inheritance of Christ. If that man did not hand over the inheritance of his fathers, shall I hand over the inheritance of Christ?

Sed et hoc addidi: Absit ut tradam haereditatem patrum, hoc est, haereditatem Dyonisii, qui in exsilio in causa fidei defunctus est, haereditatem Eustorgii confessoris, haereditatem Myroclis, atque omnium retro fidelium episcoporum. Respondi ego, quod sacerdotis est: quod imperatoris est, faciat imperator. Prius est ut animam mihi, quam fidem auferat.

But I also added this: Far be it that I should hand over the inheritance of the fathers, that is, the inheritance of Dionysius, who died in exile on account of the faith, the inheritance of Eustorgius the confessor, the inheritance of Mirocles, and of all the faithful bishops of former times. I replied what is the priest’s to say: what is the emperor’s, let the emperor do. Let him sooner take my soul from me than my faith.

19. At cui tradam? Praesens lectio Evangelii docere nos debet, quid petatur, a quibus petatur. Audistis nempe legi, quod cum Christus super pullum asinae sederet, clamabant pueruli, et moleste ferebant Judaei (Luc.

19. But to whom shall I deliver it? The present lection of the Gospel ought to teach us what is being petitioned, and by whom it is being petitioned. You have, to be sure, heard it read that, when Christ was sitting upon the foal of an ass, the little boys were shouting, and the Jews were taking it ill (Luke.

XIX, 35). Denique interpellaverunt Dominum Jesum, dicentes ut faceret eos tacere; respondit: Si hi tacuerint, lapides clamabunt (Ibid., 40). Deinde ingressus templum, ejecit nummularios, et cathedras, et columbas vendentes in templo Dei. Lectio nempe ista nulla 869 nostra dispositione recitata est, sed casu: quae praesentibus bene aptatur temporibus. Semper ergo Christi laudes verbera perfidorum sunt.

(19, 35). Finally they interpellated the Lord Jesus, saying that he should make them be silent; he responded: If these are silent, the stones will cry out (Ibid., 40). Then, having entered the temple, he cast out the money-changers, and the chairs, and those selling doves in the temple of God. For indeed this reading was recited by no 869 arrangement of ours, but by chance; which is well fitted to the present times. Therefore the praises of Christ are always scourges of the perfidious.

Et nunc cum laudatur Christus, dicunt haeretici quia seditio commovetur: dicunt haeretici quia his mors parabatur; et vere mortem habent in laudibus Christi. Quomodo enim laudes ejus ferre possunt, cujus infirmitatem praedicant? Itaque et hodie cum laudatur Christus, Arianorum amentia verberatur.

And now, when Christ is praised, the heretics say that a sedition is stirred up: the heretics say that death was being prepared for these; and truly they have death in the praises of Christ. For how can they bear his praises, who proclaim his infirmity? And so even today, when Christ is praised, the madness of the Arians is scourged.

20. Geraseni praesentiam Christi ferre non poterant (Luc. VIII, 37), isti pejores Gerasenis nec laudationem Christi sustinere possunt. Vident pueros Christi gloriam concinentes; quia scriptum est:Ex ore infantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem (Psal.

20. The Gerasenes could not bear the presence of Christ (Luke 8, 37); these, worse than the Gerasenes, cannot even endure the laudation of Christ. They see children singing together the glory of Christ; because it is written:Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings you have perfected praise (Psal.

VIII, 3). Irrident istam aetatulam fidei plenam, cum dicunt: Ecce quid clamant? Sed respondit iis Christus: Si hi tacebunt, lapides clamabunt (Luc. XIX, 35), hoc est, fortiores clamabunt, clamabunt et juvenes, clamabunt et maturiores, clamabunt et senes: isti lapides ad illum jam solidati lapidem, de quo scriptum est: Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli (Psal. CXVII, 22).

8, 3). They deride this little age full of faith, when they say: Behold, what are they shouting? But Christ answered them: If these keep silent, the stones will cry out (Luc. 19, 35), that is, the stronger will cry out, and the young men will cry out, and the more mature will cry out, and the old men will cry out: these stones already solidified to that stone, concerning which it is written: The stone which the builders rejected, this has been made into the head of the corner (Psal. 117, 22).

21. His igitur laudationibus invitatus templum suum Christus ingreditur, et flagellum prehendit, et ejicit de templo nummularios (Joan. II, 15). Non patitur enim in suo templo pecuniae esse vernaculos, non patitur in suo templo esse eos, qui vendant cathedras. Quid sunt cathedrae, nisi honores?

21. Therefore, invited by these praises, Christ enters his temple, and takes up a scourge, and casts the money-changers out of the temple (John 2, 15). For he does not allow in his temple there to be household-slaves of money, he does not allow in his temple there to be those who sell chairs. What are chairs, if not honors?

Quid sunt columbae, nisi simplices mentes, vel animae fidem candidam et puram sequentes? Ego ergo inducam in templum, quem Christus excludit? Jubetur enim exire, qui dignitates vendit et honores: jubetur exire, qui vendere vult simplices mentes fidelium.

What are doves, if not simple minds, or souls following a candid and pure faith? Shall I then bring into the temple him whom Christ excludes? For he is bidden to go out who sells dignities and honors; he is bidden to go out who wishes to sell the simple minds of the faithful.

22. Ergo Auxentius ejicitur, Mercurinus excluditur. Unum portentum est, duo nomina. Etenim ne cognosceretur quis esset, mutavit sibi vocabulum; ut quia hic fuerat Auxentius episcopus Arianus, ad decipiendam plebem, quam ille tenuerat, se vocaret Auxentium.

22. Therefore Auxentius is cast out, Mercurinus is excluded. One portent, two names. For indeed, lest it be recognized who he was, he changed his appellation; so that, since here there had been Auxentius, an Arian bishop, in order to deceive the plebs which that man had held, he might call himself Auxentius.

Mutavit ergo vocabulum, sed perfidiam non mutavit: exuit lupum, sed induit lupum. Nihil prodest quod mutavit nomen: quid sit agnoscitur. Alius in Scythiae partibus dicebatur, alius hic vocatur: nomina pro regionibus habet.

Therefore he changed the vocable, but he did not change the perfidy: he stripped off a wolf, but he donned a wolf. It profits nothing that he changed the name: what he is is recognized. He was said to be one thing in the parts of Scythia, here he is called another: he has names according to the regions.

Habet ergo jam duo nomina; et si hinc alio perrexerit, habebit et tertium. Quomodo enim patietur ut maneat ei vocabulum ad tanti sceleris indicium: Minora fecit in Scythia; et ita erubuit, ut mutaret vocabulum: sceleratiora hic ausus est; et volet, quocumque perrexerit, nomine suo prodi? Tantorum populorum sanguinem manu sua scribet, et poterit consistere animo?

He has therefore now two names; and if from here he proceeds elsewhere, he will have even a third. For how, indeed, will he endure that an appellation remain to him as an indication of so great a crime? He did lesser things in Scythia; and he so blushed as to change his appellation: more criminal things he has dared here; and will he wish, wherever he proceeds, to be betrayed by his own name? Will he write with his own hand the blood of so many peoples, and be able to stand firm in spirit?

23. Paucos excludebat Dominus Jesus de templo suo, Auxentius nullum reliquit. De templo suo Jesus flagello ejicit, Auxentius gladio: Jesus flagello, Mercurinus securi. Pius Dominus flagello870 exturbat sacrilegos; nequam persequitur pios ferro.

23. The Lord Jesus excluded few from his temple; Auxentius has left none. From his temple Jesus ejects with a scourge, Auxentius with a sword: Jesus with a scourge, Mercurinus with an axe. The pious Lord with a scourge870 drives out the sacrilegious; the wicked man persecutes the pious with iron.

De quo bene dixistis hodie: Leges suas secum ferat. Feret, etiamsi nolit: feret conscientiam suam, etsi non fert chartulam: feret sanguine inscriptam animam suam, etsi atramento inscriptam epistolam non feret. Scripta est, Juda, culpa tua graphio ferreo et ungue adamantino, et scripta in pectore tuo (Jerem.

About which you have spoken well today: let him carry his own laws with him. He will carry them, even if he is unwilling: he will carry his conscience, even if he does not carry the paper-slip; he will carry his soul inscribed with blood, even if he does not carry an epistle inscribed with ink. Your guilt, Judah, is written with an iron stylus and an adamantine point, and written upon your breast (Jerem.

VII, 1), hoc est, ibi scripta, unde processit.

7, 1), that is, written there, whence it proceeded.

24. Is mihi etiam audet mentionem facere tractandi, plenus sanguinis, plenus cruoris? Qui quos non potuerit sermone decipere, eos gladio putat esse feriendos, cruentas leges ore dictans, manu scribens, et putans quod lex fidem possit hominibus imperare. Non audivit et id quod hodie dictum est:Quoniam non justificatur homo ex operibus Legis; (Galat.

24. Does this man even dare to make mention to me of negotiating, full of blood, full of gore? He, those whom he has not been able to deceive by speech, he thinks must be struck by the sword, dictating bloody laws with his mouth, writing them with his hand, and supposing that Law can command faith to men. Has he not heard even that which was said today:Because man is not justified by works of the Law; (Galat.

II, 16), aut: Per Legem Legi mortuus sum, ut Deo vivam (Ibid., 19), id est, per legem spiritalem interpretationi Legis est mortuus corporali. Et nos per legem Domini nostri Jesu Christi moriamur huic legi, quae sancit decreta perfidiae. Non lex Ecclesiam congregavit, sed fides Christi.

2, 16), or: Through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God (Ibid., 19), that is, through the spiritual law he has died to the bodily interpretation of the Law. And let us also through the law of our Lord Jesus Christ die to this law, which sanctions the decrees of perfidy. Not the law congregated the Church, but the faith of Christ.

Lex enim non est ex fide: Justus autem ex fide vivit (Galat. III, 11). Justum ergo fides, non lex facit; quia non est per legem justitia, sed per fidem Christi. Qui autem fidem repudiat, et legis jura praescribit, ipse se testatur injustum, quia Justus ex fide vivit.

For the law is not from faith: The just, however, lives by faith (Galatians 3, 11). Therefore faith, not law, makes the just; because justice is not through the law, but through the faith of Christ. But whoever repudiates faith and prescribes the statutes of the law, he attests himself unjust, because The just lives by faith.

25. Hanc ergo legem quisquam sequatur, qua firmatur Ariminense concilium, in quo creatura dictus est Christus? Sed aiunt:Misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum sub Lege (Galat. IV, 4). Ergo, factum, legunt, hoc est, creatum.

25. Will anyone therefore follow this law, by which the Council of Ariminum is confirmed, in which Christ was called a creature? But they say:God sent his Son made from a woman, made under the Law (Galatians 4, 4). Therefore, they read made, that is, created.

Nonne hoc ipsum considerant, quod proposuerunt, quia factus dicitur Christus, sed ex muliere, hoc est, secundum partum Virginis factus est, qui secundum divinam generationem ex Patre natus est? Legerunt et hodie, quia Christus nos redemit de maledicto Legis, factus pro nobis maledictum (Galat. III, 13). Numquid maledictum Christus secundum divinitatem est?

Do they not consider this very thing which they have proposed, that Christ is said to have been made, but from a woman, that is, he was made according to the Virgin’s birth, who according to the divine generation was born from the Father? They have read even today that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become for us a curse (Galatians 3, 13). Is Christ a curse according to divinity?

Sed quare maledictum dicatur, Apostolus te docet, dicens quia scriptum est: Maledictus omnis, qui pendet in ligno (Ibid.), hoc est, qui in carne sua nostram carnem, in suo corpore nostras infirmitates et nostra maledicta suscepit, ut crucifigeret; non enim ille maledictus, sed in te maledictus. Denique habes alibi: Qui peccatum non cognovit, sed pro nobis peccatum factus est; quia nostra peccata suscepit, ut sacramento suae passionis aboleret (II Cor. V, 21).

But why he is said to be a curse, the Apostle teaches you, saying that it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (Ibid.), that is, he who in his flesh took our flesh, in his body took our infirmities and our curses, in order to crucify them; for he is not accursed, but accursed in you. Finally, you have elsewhere: He who did not know sin, but for us was made sin; because he took our sins, that by the sacrament of his Passion he might abolish them (2 Corinthians 5, 21).

26. Haec ego, fratres, coram ipso apud vos plenius disputarem: sed certus non ignaros vos esse fidei, vestrum refugit examen, et gentiles quosdam quatuor aut quinque ferme homines elegit cognitores sibi, si tamen aliquos elegit: quos vellem adesse in coetu omnium, non ut de Christo judicent, sed ut majestatem audiant Christi. Tamen illi jam de Auxentio pronuntiaverunt, cui tractanti quotidie non crediderunt. Quae major ejus condemnatio, quam quod871 sine adversario apud judices suos victus est?

26. These things I, brothers, would more fully dispute before him in your presence: but, certain that you are not ignorant of the faith, he shuns your examination, and has chosen for himself as cognitors some gentiles, about four or five men, if indeed he has chosen any at all: whom I would wish to be present in the assembly of all, not that they might judge concerning Christ, but that they might hear the majesty of Christ. Yet they have already pronounced regarding Auxentius, whom, though he was handling the matter daily, they did not believe. What greater condemnation of him, than that he was conquered without an adversary before his own judges?871

Ergo et ipsorum sententiam contra Auxentium jam tenemus.

Therefore we too already hold their judgment against Auxentius.

27. Et quod gentes elegit, jure damnandus est; quia Apostoli praecepta dimisit, cum Apostolus dicat:Audet aliquis vestrum adversus alterum habens negotium, judicari apud iniquos, et non apud sanctos? Aut nescitis quoniam sancti de hoc mundo judicabunt (I Cor. VI, 1, 2)? Et infra ait: Sic non est inter vos sapiens quisquam, qui possit judicare inter fratres: sed frater cum fratre judicio contendit et hoc apud infideles (Ibid., 5, 6)? Vides quia quod ille obtulit contra auctoritatem Apostoli sit.

27. And for the fact that he chose the gentiles, by right he is to be condemned; because he dismissed the precepts of the Apostle, since the Apostle says:Does any one of you dare, having a matter against another, to be judged before the iniquitous, and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge this world (1 Cor. 6, 1, 2)? And lower down he says: Thus there is not among you anyone wise who is able to judge between brothers: but brother with brother contends in judgment, and this before infidels (Ibid., 5, 6)? You see that what he offered is against the authority of the Apostle.

Vos eligite utrum Auxentium an Paulum sequi debeamus magistrum.

You choose whether we ought to follow Auxentius or Paul as master.

28. Sed quid dicam de Apostolo, cum ipse Dominus clamet per prophetam:Audite me, populus meus. Qui scitis judicium, quorum in corde lex mea est (Esai. LI, 7). Deus dicit: Audite me, populus meus.

28. But what shall I say about the Apostle, when the Lord himself cries out through the prophet:Hear me, my people. You who know judgment, in whose heart my law is (Isaiah 51, 7). God says: Hear me, my people.

Qui scitis judicium; Auxentius dicit: Nescitis judicium. Videtis quia jam Deum contemnit in vobis, qui sententiam coelestis refutat oraculi? Audite me, inquit, populus meus, dicit Dominus.

You who know judgment; Auxentius says: You do not know judgment. You see that he already despises God in you, who refutes the sentence of the celestial oracle? Hear me, he says, my people, says the Lord.

Non dicit: Audite, gentes. Non dicit: Audite, Judaei. Jam enim populus Dei qui fuerat, populus erroris est factus: et qui populus erroris erat, populus Dei esse coepit, quia in Christum credidit.

He does not say: Hear, nations. He does not say: Hear, Jews. For now the people of God that had been has been made a people of error; and the people that was a people of error has begun to be the people of God, because it believed in Christ.

Iste ergo populus judicat, cujus in corde lex divina est, non humana: lex non atramento scripta, sed spiritu Dei vivi: non in charta exarata, sed in corde signata: lex gratiae, non cruoris (II Cor. III, 3). Quis igitur vobis injuriam facit, qui recusat vestram, an qui eligit audientiam?

Therefore this people judges, in whose heart is the divine law, not the human: a law not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God: not inscribed on paper, but sealed in the heart: a law of grace, not of gore (2 Cor. 3, 3). Who then does you an injury: the one who refuses your judgment, or the one who chooses a hearing?

29. Conclusus undique, ad versutiam patrum suorum confugit. De imperatore vult invidiam commovere, dicens judicare debere adolescentem catechumenum, sacrae lectionis ignarum, et in consistorio judicare. Quasi vero superiore anno quando ad palatium sum petitus, cum praesentibus primatibus ante consistorium tractaretur, cum imperator basilicam vellet eripere; ego tunc aulae contemplatione regalis infractus sim, constantiam non tenuerim sacerdotis, aut imminuto jure discesserim?

29. Hemmed in on every side, he fled for refuge to the cunning of his fathers. He wants to stir up envy against the emperor, saying that an adolescent catechumen, ignorant of sacred lection, ought to judge, and to judge in the consistory. As if indeed last year, when I was summoned to the palace, when, with the primates present, the matter was being handled before the consistory, when the emperor wanted to snatch away the basilica; I then, at the contemplation of the royal hall, had been broken, had not held the constancy of a priest, or had departed with my right impaired?

Nonne meminerunt quod ubi me cognovit populus palatium petisse, ita irruit, ut vim ejus ferre non possent; quando comiti militari cum expeditis ad fugandam multitudinem egresso obtulerunt omnes se neci pro fide Christi? Nonne tunc rogatus sum, ut populum multo sermone mulcerem? sponderem fidem, quod Basilicam Ecclesiae nullus invaderet?

Do they not remember that when the people learned that I had sought the palace, they rushed in so that its force could not be withstood; when, as the military Count, having gone out with the light troops to rout the multitude, they all offered themselves to death for the faith of Christ? Was I not then asked to soothe the people with a long sermon? to pledge my faith that no one would invade the Basilica of the Church?

Et cum pro beneficio meum sit officium postulatum; tamen quod populus ad palatium venisset, mihi invidia commota est. In hanc igitur invidiam me redire desiderant.

And although my office was requested as a benefaction; nevertheless, because the people had come to the palace, envy against me was stirred up. Into this envy, therefore, they desire me to return.

30. Revocavi populum, et tamen invidiam non evasi: quam quidem invidiam ego temperandam872 arbritor, non timendam. Quid enim timeamus pro Christi nomine? Nisi forte illud movere me debet, Quod aiunt: Ergo non debet imperator unam basilicam accipere, ad quam procedat: et plus vult Ambrosius posse, quam imperator; ut imperatori prodeundi facultatem neget?

30. I recalled the people, and yet I did not escape envy: which envy indeed I judge to be tempered872, not to be feared. For what should we fear for the name of Christ? Unless perhaps that ought to move me, what they say: Therefore the emperor ought not to receive one basilica, to which he may proceed: and Ambrose wishes to be able more than the emperor; so as to deny the emperor the faculty of going forth?

Quod cum dicunt, apprehendere sermones nostros gestiunt, sicut Judaei qui Christum versuto sermone tentabant dicentes: Magister, licet tributum dare Caesari, aut non (Matth. XXII, 17)? Semperne de Caesare servulis Dei invidia commovetur? Et hoc ad calumniam sibi arcessit impietas, ut imperiale nomen obtendat?

When they say this, they are eager to seize upon our discourses, like the Jews who were testing Christ with a wily speech, saying: Master, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not (Matt. 22, 17)? Is envy about Caesar always stirred up against the servants of God? And does impiety even summon this to itself for a calumny, so that it may put forward the imperial name as a pretext?

Et isti possunt dicere quod eorum non habeant sacrilegium, quorum imitantur magisterium?

And can these men say that they do not bear the sacrilege of those whose magisterium they imitate?

31. Et tamen videte quanto pejores [Ariani] sint, quam Judaei. Illi quaerebant utrum solvendum putaret Caesari jus tributi; isti, imperatori volunt dare jus Ecclesiae. Sed ut perfidi suum sequuntur auctorem; ita et nos quae nos Dominus et auctor noster docuit, respondeamus.

31. And yet see how much worse [the Arians] are than the Jews. Those were asking whether he judged that the right of the tribute ought to be paid to Caesar; these want to give to the emperor the right of the Church. But as the faithless follow their own author; so let us too respond with what our Lord and our author taught us.

Considerans enim Jesus dolum Judaeorum (Ibid., 18 et seq.), dixit ad eos: Quid me tentatis? Ostendite mihi denarium. Et cum dedissent, dixit: Cujus imaginem habet et inscriptionem? Respondentes dixerunt: Caesaris. Et ait illis Jesus: Reddite quae sunt Caesaris Caesari, et quae sunt Dei, Deo. Ergo et ego dico illis, qui mihi objiciunt; Ostendite mihi denarium: Jesus Caesaris denarium vidit, et ait: Reddite Caesari, quae Caesaris sunt, et quae Dei sunt Deo. Numquid de Ecclesiae Basilicis occupandis possunt denarium offerre Caesaris?

For Jesus, considering the guile of the Jews (ibid., 18 and following), said to them: Why do you test me? Show me a denarius. And when they had given it, he said: Whose image and inscription does it have? Answering, they said: Caesar’s. And Jesus said to them: Render the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God. Therefore I also say to those who raise objections against me; Show me a denarius: Jesus saw Caesar’s denarius, and said: Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and to God the things which are God’s. Can they offer Caesar’s denarius for the seizing of the Basilicas of the Church?

32. Sed in Ecclesia unam imaginem novi, hoc est, imaginem Dei invisibilis, de qua dixit Deus:Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram (Gen. I, 26); illam imaginem, de qua scriptum est; quia Christus splendor gloriae, et imago substantiae ejus (Hebr. I, 3). In ista imagine Patrem cerno, sicut dixit ipse Dominus Jesus: Qui me videt, videt et Patrem (Joan.

32. But in the Church I know one image, that is, the image of the invisible God, about which God said:Let us make man in our image and likeness (Gen. 1, 26); that image of which it is written, that Christ is the splendor of glory, and the image of his substance (Hebr. 1, 3). In this image I discern the Father, as the Lord Jesus himself said: He who sees me, sees the Father also (Joan.

XIV, 9). Non enim haec imago a Patre est separata, quae unitatem me docuit Trinitatis dicens: Ego et Pater unum sumus (Joan. X, 30); et infra: Omnia quaecumque habet Pater, mea sunt (Joan. XVI, 15). Et de Spiritu sancto, dicens quia Spiritus Christi sit, et de Christo accepit, sicut scriptum est: Ille de meo accipiet, et annuntiabit vobis (Ibid., 14).

14, 9). For this image is not separated from the Father, which taught me the unity of the Trinity, saying: I and the Father are one (Joan. 10, 30); and further: All things whatsoever the Father has are mine (Joan. 16, 15). And concerning the Holy Spirit, saying that the Spirit is Christ’s, and that he received from Christ, as it is written: He will receive of mine, and will announce to you (Ibid., 14).

33. Quid igitur non humiliter responsum a nobis est? Si tributum petit, non negamus.

33. What, then, has not been humbly answered by us? If he asks for tribute, we do not deny it.

Agri Ecclesiae solvunt tributum: si agros desiderat imperator, potestatem habet vindicandorum; nemo nostrum intervenit. Potest pauperibus collatio populi redundare: non faciant de agris invidiam, tollant eos, si libitum est imperatori: non dono, sed non nego. Aurum quaerunt, possum dicere: Argentum et aurum non quaero.

The fields of the Church pay tribute: if the emperor desires the fields, he has the power of claiming them; none of us intervenes. The people’s contribution can redound to the poor: let them not make envy about the fields, let them take them, if it pleases the emperor: I do not give as a gift, but I do not refuse. They seek gold; I can say: Silver and gold I do not seek.

Sed invidiam faciunt, quia aurum erogatur. Nec ego hanc invidiam perhorresco. Habeo aerarios: aerarii mei pauperes Christi sunt, hunc novi congregare thesaurum.

But they stir up envy, because gold is disbursed. Nor do I shudder at this envy. I have treasurers: my treasurers are the poor of Christ; this treasure I know how to gather.

873 Utinam hoc mihi semper crimen ascribant, quia aurum pauperibus erogatur! Quod si objiciunt quod defensionem ab iis requiram, non nego, sed etiam ambio. Habeo defensionem, sed in orationibus pauperum.

873 Would that they always ascribe this crime to me: that gold is erogated to the poor! But if they object that I require a defense from them, I do not deny it; I even canvass for it. I have a defense, but in the prayers of the poor.

Caeci illi et claudi, debiles et senes robustis bellatoribus fortiores sunt. Denique munera pauperum Deum obligant; quia scriptum est: Qui largitur pauperi, Deo fenerat (Prov. XIX, 17). Praesidia bellatorum divinam saepe gratiam non merentur.

Those blind and those lame, the feeble and the old, are stronger than robust warriors. Finally, the gifts of the poor oblige God; for it is written: He who is generous to the poor lends to God (Prov. 19, 17). The defenses of warriors often do not merit divine grace.

34. Hymnorum quoque meorum carminibus deceptum populum ferunt. Plane nec hoc abnuo. Grande carmen istud est, quo nihil potentius.

34. They report that the people too were deceived by the songs of my hymns. Plainly I do not deny this either. That song is great, than which nothing is more potent.

Quid enim potentius quam confessio Trinitatis, quae quotidie totius populi ore celebratur? Certatim omnes student fidem fateri, Patrem et Filium et Spiritum sanctum norunt versibus praedicare. Facti sunt igitur omnes magistri, qui vix poterant esse discipuli.

For what indeed is more potent than the confession of the Trinity, which is celebrated daily by the mouth of the whole people? Eagerly, in rivalry, all strive to confess the faith; they know how to preach in verses the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore all have become teachers, who scarcely were able to be disciples.

35. Quid igitur obaudientius potest esse, quam ut Christi sequamur exemplum, quispecie inventus ut homo, humiliavit semetipsum factus obediens usque ad mortem (Philipp. II, 7, 8)? Denique omnes per obedientiam liberavit: Sicut enim per inobedientiam unius hominis peccatores constituti sunt plurimi, ita et per unius obedientiam justi constituentur multi (Rom. V, 19). Si ergo ille obediens, accipiant obedientiae magisterium, cui nos inhaeremus, dicentes iis qui nobis de imperatore invidiam faciunt: Solvimus quae sunt Caesaris Caesari, et quae sunt Dei Deo (Matth.

35. What, therefore, can be more obedient than that we follow the example of Christ, whobeing found in appearance as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death (Philippians 2, 7, 8)? Finally, he freed all through obedience: For as through the disobedience of one man many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of the one many shall be constituted just (Romans 5, 19). If therefore he was obedient, let them receive the instruction of obedience, to which we cleave, saying to those who create ill-will against us concerning the emperor: We pay what are Caesar’s to Caesar, and what are God’s to God (Matthew

XXII, 21). Tributum Caesaris est, non negatur (23, quaest. 8, c. Conventior, þ Tributum): Ecclesia Dei est, Caesari utique non debet addici; quia jus Caesaris esse non potest Dei templum.

22, 21). The Tribute is Caesar’s; it is not denied (23, question 8, ch. Conventior, þ Tribute): the Church is God’s; it surely ought not to be adjudged to Caesar; because the temple of God cannot be the right of Caesar.

36. Quod cum honorificentia imperatoris dictum nemo potest negare. Quid enim honorificentius, quam ut imperator Ecclesiae filius esse dicatur? Quod cum dicitur, sine peccato dicitur, cum gratia dicitur.

36. No one can deny that this was said with honor to the emperor. For what is more honorific than that the emperor be said to be a son of the Church? And when this is said, it is said without sin, it is said with grace.

Imperator Enim intra Ecclesiam, non supra Ecclesiam est; bonus enim imperator quaerit auxilium Ecclesiae, non refutat. Haec ut humiliter dicimus, ita constanter exponimus. Sed incendia aliqui, gladium, deportationem minantur.

For the emperor is within the Church, not above the Church; for a good emperor seeks the aid of the Church, he does not refuse it. These things, as we say them humbly, so we set them forth constantly. But some threaten conflagrations, the sword, deportation.

Didicimus Christi servuli non timere. Non timentibus numquam est gravis terror. Denique scriptum est: Sagittae infantium factae sunt plagae eorum (Psal.

We have learned that the servants of Christ do not fear. For those not fearing, there is never a grave terror. Finally, it is written: The arrows of infants have been made their wounds (Psal.

LXIII, 8).

63, 8).

87437. Satis igitur propositis responsum videtur. Nunc illos interrogo, quod Salvator interrogavit:Baptismum Joannis de coelo est, an ex hominibus (Luc. XX, 4)? Et non potuerunt respondere ei Judaei.

87437. Therefore, it seems that enough has been answered to the points set forth. Now I question them, what the Savior questioned:Is the baptism of John from heaven, or from men (Luke 20, 4)? And the Jews were not able to answer him.

Si baptismum Joannis non solverunt Judaei, Auxentius solvit baptismum Christi? Non enim istud ex hominibus est baptismum, sed de coelo, quod detulit nobis consilii magni Angelus (Esai. IX, 6), ut justificemur Deo.

If the Jews did not invalidate the baptism of John, does Auxentius invalidate the baptism of Christ? For this baptism is not from men, but from heaven, which the Angel of great Counsel brought to us (Isa. 9, 6), that we might be justified to God.

Cur igitur rebaptizandos Auxentius fideles populos putat, baptizatos in nomine Trinitatis; cum Apostolus dicat: Una fides, unum baptisma (Ephes. IV, 3): et se hominum dicat adversarium esse, non Christi; cum consilium Dei spernat, et condemnet baptismum, quod Christus nobis ad redimenda nostra peccata donavit (Luc. VII, 30).

Why therefore does Auxentius think that the faithful peoples, baptized in the name of the Trinity, are to be rebaptized; when the Apostle says: One faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4, 3); and says that he is an adversary of men, not of Christ; when he spurns the counsel of God, and condemns the baptism which Christ granted to us for the redeeming of our sins (Luke 7, 30).

EPISTOLA XX.

EPISTLE 20.

Narrat sorori quae Mediolani per dies aliquot propter basilicam, quam Ariani petebant evenere, quomodo a Valentiniani ministris ipse fuerit compellatus, populus autem reclamaverit: deinde quomodo missis decanis ad basilicam invadendam, raptus fuerit a populo Castulus Arianus, cujus occasione, licet sua ipsius cura liberati variae secutae sunt condemnationes; post quae iterum interpellatus imperatoris nomine sanctus praesul magna constantia respondet. Addit postridie occupata basilica, milites se ad catholicos transituros promisisse, nec populum de fortitudine quidquam remisisse: tentationes Job et maxime quas a muliere passus legitur, huic tempori accommodatas: interim liberatam basilicam, sed notarium sibi dura nuntiasse, quibus neutiquam motus fuerit: postremo prophetiae Jonae ad res praesentes adaptationem, populi ob liberatam basilicam, et multam mercatoribus remissam gaudium, verba Valentiniani ad comites, et suum ad Calligoni minas responsum subdit.

He narrates to his sister what befell at Milan for several days on account of the basilica which the Arians were seeking, how he himself was compelled by the ministers of Valentinian, but the people cried out in protest: then how, deans having been sent to invade the basilica, Castulus the Arian was snatched by the people, on which occasion, although by his own care he was freed, various condemnations followed; after which, again appealed to in the emperor’s name, the holy prelate replies with great constancy. He adds that on the next day, with the basilica occupied, the soldiers promised that they would pass over to the Catholics, nor had the people remitted anything of their fortitude: the temptations of Job, and especially those which he is read to have suffered from the woman, are accommodated to this time: meanwhile the basilica was freed, but a notary announced harsh things to him, by which he was in no wise moved: lastly, he subjoins an adaptation of the prophecy of Jonah to present affairs, the joy of the people on account of the basilica freed and the fine remitted to the merchants, the words of Valentinian to the counts, and his own response to the threats of Calligonus.

1. Quoniam in omnibus fere epistolis sollicite quaeris de Ecclesia, accipe quid agatur. Postridie quam accepi litteras tuas, quibus significaveras quod te exagitarent somnia tua, moles inquietudinum gravium coepit moveri. Nec jam Portiana, hoc est, extramurana853 basilica petebatur, sed basilica nova, hoc est, intramurana, quae major est.

1. Since in almost all your epistles you solicitously inquire about the Church, receive what is being done. On the day after I received your letters, in which you had signified that your dreams were harrying you, a mass of grave disquietudes began to be set in motion. And now not the Portiana, that is, the extramural,853 basilica was being sought, but the new basilica, that is, the intramural one, which is larger.

2. Convenerunt me primo principes virtutum viri, comites consistoriani, ut et basilicam traderem, et procurarem, ne quid populus turbarum moveret. Respondi quod erat ordinis, templum Dei a sacerdote tradi non posse.

2. First there came together to me the leading men of the Virtutes, consistorial counts, that I both hand over the basilica and see to it that the people not set any disturbances in motion. I replied what was of order: that the temple of God cannot be handed over by a priest.

3. Acclamatum est sequenti die in Ecclesia: etiam praefectus eo venit; coepit suadere vel ut basilica Portiana cederemus. Populus reclamavit. Ita tunc discessum est, ut intimaturum se imperatori diceret.

3. It was acclaimed on the following day in the Church: the prefect too came there; he began to urge, namely, that we should yield the Portiana basilica. The people protested. Thus then they departed, saying that he would inform the emperor.

4. Sequenti die, erat autem Dominica, post lectiones atque tractatum, dimissis catechumenis, symbolum aliquibus competentibus in baptisteriis tradebam basilicae. Illic nuntiatum est mihi comperto quod ad Portianam basilicam de palatio decanos misissent, et vela suspenderent, populi partem eo pergere. Ego tamen mansi in munere, missam facere coepi.

4. On the following day, and it was the Lord’s Day, after the readings and the discourse, the catechumens having been dismissed, I was handing over the Symbol (the Creed) to some competentes in the baptisteries of the basilica. There it was reported to me, it having been discovered, that they had sent deans from the palace to the Portian basilica, and were hanging veils, a part of the people proceeding thither. I, however, remained at the duty, I began to celebrate the Mass.

5. Dum offero, raptum cognovi a populo Castulum quemdam, quem presbyterum dicerent Ariani. Hunc autem in platea offenderant transeuntes. Amarissime flere, et orare in ipsa oblatione Deum coepi, ut subveniret, ne cujus sanguis in causa Ecclesiae fieret: certe ut meus sanguis pro salute non solum populi, sed etiam pro ipsis impiis effunderetur.

5. While I was offering, I learned that a certain Castulus had been seized by the people, whom the Arians said was a presbyter. But those passing by had encountered him in the public square. I began to weep most bitterly, and to pray to God in the very Oblation, that he would succor, lest anyone’s blood be shed for the cause of the Church: indeed, that my blood be poured out for the salvation not only of the people, but even for the impious themselves.

Quid multa? Missis presbyteris et diaconibus, eripui injuriae virum.

Why say more? With presbyters and deacons sent, I rescued the man from injury.

6. Condemnationes illico gravissimae decernuntur: primo in corpus omne mercatorum. Itaque sanctis diebus hebdomadis ultimae, quibus solebant debitorum laxari vincula, stridunt catenae, imponuntur collo innocentium,854 exiguntur ducenta pondo auri infra totum triduum. Respondent aliud se tantum aut duplum, si peterentur, daturos, dummodo servarent fidem.

6. Very heavy condemnations are at once decreed: first upon the whole body of merchants. And so, on the holy days of the last week, on which the bonds of debtors were accustomed to be loosened, chains shriek, they are set upon the necks of the innocent,854 two hundred pounds of gold are exacted within the whole three days. They answer that they would give as much again or double, if it were demanded, provided that they might preserve their credit.

Erant pleni carceres negotiatoribus.

The prisons were full of merchants.

7. Palatina omnia officia, hoc est, memoriales, agentes in rebus, apparitores diversorum comitum temperare a processu jubentur, specie qua seditioni interesse prohibebantur: honoratis multa minabantur gravissima, nisi basilicam traderent. Fervebat persecutio: ac si aperuissent portam, prorupturi in omne facinus videbantur.

7. All the Palatine offices, that is, the Memorials, the agentes in rebus, the apparitors of various counts, are ordered to refrain from proceeding, under the pretext by which they were forbidden to take part in a sedition: to men of honor they were threatening very grievous punishments, unless they should hand over the basilica. The persecution was seething: and as if they had opened the gate, they seemed about to burst forth into every crime.

8. Convenior ipse a comitibus et tribunis, ut basilicae fieret matura traditio, dicentibus imperatorem jure suo uti, eo quod in potestate ejus essent omnia. Respondi, si a me peteret, quod meum esset, id est, fundum meum, argentum meum, quidvis hujusmodi meum, me non refragaturum; quamquam omnia quae mei sunt, essent pauperum: verum ea quae sunt divina, imperatoriae potestati non esse subjecta. Si patrimonium petitur, invadite: si corpus, occurram.

8. I myself am summoned by the counts and tribunes, that a timely transfer of the basilica be made, saying that the emperor was using his own right, because all things were in his power. I replied: if he were asking of me what was mine—that is, my estate, my silver, anything of this sort that is mine—I would not oppose; although all the things that are mine are the poor’s: but the things that are divine are not subject to imperial power. If patrimony is sought, seize it; if my body, I will go to meet it.

Vultis in vincula rapere? vultis in mortem? voluptati est mihi.

Do you wish to drag me into bonds? Do you wish me to death? It is my pleasure.

Non ego vallabor circumfusione populorum, nec altaria tenebo vitam obsecrans, sed pro altaribus gratius immolabor.

I will not be walled about by the circumfusion of peoples, nor will I hold the altars, obsecrating for life, but for the altars I shall be more acceptably immolated.

9. Horrebam quippe animo, cum armatos ad basilicam Ecclesiae occupandam missos cognoscerem; ne dum basilicam vindicant, aliqua strages fieret, quae in perniciem totius vergeret civitatis. Orabam ne tantae urbis vel totius Italiae busto superviverem. Detestabar invidiam fundendi cruoris, offerebam jugulum meum.

9. I shuddered in spirit, when I learned that armed men had been sent to occupy the basilica of the Church; lest, while they claim the basilica, some slaughter might occur, which would verge to the ruin of the whole city. I was praying that I might not outlive the funeral pyre of so great a city or of all Italy. I was detesting the odium of shedding blood; I was offering my throat.

855 Aderant Gothi tribuni, adoriebar eos, dicens: Propterea vos possessio Romana suscepit, ut perturbationis publicae vos praebeatis ministros? Quo transibitis, si haec deleta fuerint?

855 The Gothic tribunes were present; I accosted them, saying: For this reason has the Roman possession received you, that you should present yourselves as ministers of public perturbation? Whither will you pass, if these things have been destroyed?

10. Exigebatur a me, ut compescerem populum. Referebam in meo jure esse, ut non excitarem: in Dei manu, uti mitigaret. Postremo si me incentorem putaret, jam in me vindicari oportere, vel abduci me in quas vellet terrarum solitudines.

10. It was demanded of me that I restrain the people. I replied that it was within my right not to rouse them; in God’s hand, to mitigate them. Finally, if he considered me an inciter, already it ought to be taken vengeance upon me, or I be led away into whatever solitudes of the lands he wished.

His dictis, illi abierunt: ego in basilica veteri totum exegi diem. Inde domum cubitum me recepi, ut si quis abducere vellet, inveniret paratum.

With these things said, they departed; I spent the whole day in the old basilica. Thence I withdrew home to bed, so that, if anyone wished to abduct me, he would find me prepared.

11. Ante lucem ubi pedem limine extuli, circumfuso milite occupatur basilica. Idque a militibus imperatori mandatum dicitur, ut si prodire vellet, haberet copiam; se tamen praesto futuros, si viderent eum cum catholicis convenire: alioquin se ad eum coetum, quem Ambrosius cogeret, transituros.

11. Before dawn, when I put my foot beyond the threshold, the basilica is occupied, with the soldiery surrounding. And it is said that a mandate was delivered by the soldiers to the emperor, that, if he wished to go forth, he would have the opportunity; that they themselves would nonetheless stand ready, if they should see him agree with the Catholics: otherwise they would pass over to that assembly which Ambrose would convene.

12. Prodire de Arianis nullus audebat; quia nec quisquam de civibus erat, pauci de familia regia, nonnulli etiam Gothi. Quibus ut olim plaustra sedes erat, ita nunc plaustrum Ecclesia est. Quocumque femina ista processerit, secum suos omnes coetus vehit.

12. None of the Arians dared to come forth; because there was not anyone from the citizens, a few from the royal household, and some even Goths. For whom, as once wagons were a seat, so now the Church is a wagon. Wherever that woman goes forth, she carries with her all her assemblies.

13. Circumfusam basilicam esse gemitu populi intellexi: sed dum leguntur lectiones, intimatur mihi plenam populi esse basilicam etiam novam: majorem videri plebem, quam cum essent omnes liberi: lectorem efflagitari. Quid plura? Milites ipsi, qui videbantur occupasse basilicam, cognito quod praecepissem, ut abstinerentur a communionis consortio, ad conventum hunc nostrum venire coeperunt.

13. I perceived that the basilica was surrounded by the groan of the people; but while the lections are being read, it is intimated to me that the basilica, even the new one, is full of people; that the plebs seems greater than when all were free; that a lector is being demanded. What more? The soldiers themselves, who seemed to have seized the basilica, when it was learned that I had enjoined that they be kept away from the fellowship of communion, began to come to this our assembly.

Quibus visis, turbantur mulierum animi, proripit se una. Ipsi tamen milites se ad orationem venisse, non ad praelium loquebantur. Clamavit aliqua populus.

When these things were seen, the minds of the women were perturbed; one of them rushes forth. The soldiers themselves, however, were saying that they had come for prayer, not for battle. The people shouted some things.

Quam moderate, quam constanter, quam fideliter poscebat, ut ad illam pergeremus basilicam! In illa quoque basilica fertur quod populus praesentiam flagitabat meam.

How moderately, how constantly, how faithfully he was asking that we proceed to that basilica! In that basilica as well it is reported that the people were clamoring for my presence.

14. Tunc ego hunc adorsus sermonem sum: Audistis, filii, librum Job legi, qui solemni munere est decursus et tempore. Scivit ex usu hunc librum etiam diabolus intimandum, quo virtus omnis suae tentationis aperitur et proditur; et ideo se hodie motu majore concussit. Sed gratias Deo nostro, qui vos ita firmavit fide atque patientia.

14. Then I addressed this discourse: You have heard, sons, the Book of Job read, which is run through by a solemn office and at a set time. The devil also knew from experience that this book must be intimated, wherein the whole power of his tempting is laid open and betrayed; and therefore today he has shaken himself with greater commotion. But thanks be to our God, who has thus strengthened you with faith and patience.

Unum Job miraturus ascenderam, omnes Job quos mirarer, inveni. In singulis vobis Job revixit, in singulis sancti illius patientia et virtus refulsit. Quid enim praesentius dici potuit a christianis viris, quam id quod hodie in vobis Spiritus sanctus est locutus?

I had ascended to marvel at one Job; I found all the Jobs whom I might admire. In each of you Job has lived again, in each the patience and virtue of that holy man has shone forth. For what more timely could have been said by Christian men than that which today the Holy Spirit has spoken in you?

Rogamus, Auguste, non pugnamus: non timemus, sed rogamus. Hoc christianos decet, ut et tranquillitas pacis optetur, et fidei veritatisque constantia nec mortis revocetur periculo. Est enim 856 praesul Dominus, qui salvos faciet sperantes in se (Psal.

We ask, Augustus, we do not fight: we do not fear, but we ask. This befits Christians, that both the tranquility of peace be desired, and that the constancy of faith and of truth not be called back by the peril of death. For the Lord is the 856 praesul, who will make safe those hoping in himself (Psal.

XVI, 7).

16, 7).

15. Sed veniamus ad propositas lectiones. Videtis diabolo tentandi licentiam dari (Job. I, 12), ut boni probentur.

15. But let us come to the proposed lessons. You see that a license for tempting is given to the devil (Job. 1, 12), so that the good may be proved.

[g 1Kb] Invidet iniquus bonis profectibus, tentat diversis modis. Tentavit sanctum Job in patrimonio, tentavit in filiis, tentavit in dolore corporis. Fortior in suo corpore tentatur, infirmior in alieno.

[g 1Kb] The iniquitous envies good profectuses, he tempts in diverse modes. He tempted holy Job in his patrimony, he tempted in his children, he tempted in the pain of the body. The stronger is tempted in his own body, the weaker in another’s.

Et mihi meas divitias, quas in vobis habeo, volebat auferre, et hoc tranquillitatis vestrae patrimonium dissipare cupiebat. Vos quoque ipsos mihi bonos filios gestiebat eripere, pro quibus ego quotidie instauro sacrificium: vos ruinis quibusdam publicae perturbationis conabatur involvere. Duo igitur jam genera tentationis excepi.

And from me he wanted to take away my riches, which I have in you, and he longed to dissipate this patrimony of your tranquility. You also yourselves he was eager to snatch from me, my good sons, for whom I each day renew the sacrifice; he was attempting to involve you in certain ruins of public perturbation. Therefore I have already sustained two kinds of temptation.

Et fortasse quia infirmiorem me Dominus Deus novit, adhuc in corpus meum non dedit potestatem. Etsi ipse cupiam, etsi offeram, adhuc me fortasse huic certamini imparem judicat, et diversis exercet laboribus. Nec Job ab isto coepit certamine, sed in hoc consummavit.

And perhaps because the Lord God knows me to be weaker, he has not yet given power over my body. Even if I myself desire it, even if I offer it, perhaps he judges me as yet unequal to this contest, and he exercises me with diverse labors. Nor did Job begin with this contest, but in this he consummated it.

16. Tentatus est autem Job nuntiis coacervatis malorum, tentatus est etiam per mulierem, quae ait:Dic aliquod verbum in Deum, et morere (Job. II, 9). Videtis quanta subito moveantur, Gothi, arma, gentiles, multa mercatorum, poena sanctorum. Advertitis Quid jubeatur, cum mandatur: Trade basilicam, hoc est: Dic aliquod verbum in Deum, et morere. Nec solum die adversum Deum, sed etiam fac adversus Deum.

16. But Job was tempted by messengers with evils heaped up, he was also tempted through the woman, who said:Speak some word against God, and die (Job 2, 9). You see how many things are suddenly set in motion—Goths, arms, gentiles, many matters of merchants, the penalty of the saints. You notice What is being ordered, when it is commanded: Hand over the basilica, that is: Speak some word against God, and die. And not only speak against God, but also act against God.

Mandatur: Trade altaria Dei.

It is commanded: Hand over the altars of God.

17. Urgemur igitur praeceptis regalibus, sed confirmamur Scripturae sermonibus, quae respondit:Tamquam una ex insipientibus locuta es (Ibid., 10). Non mediocris igitur ista tentatio; namque asperiores tentationes has esse cognovimus, quae fiunt per mulieres. Denique per Evam etiam Adam supplantatus est (Gen. III, 6); eoque factum, ut a mandatis coelestibus deviaret.

17. We are therefore pressed by royal precepts, but we are confirmed by the discourses of Scripture, which answered:You have spoken like one of the foolish (Ibid., 10). No moderate temptation, then, is this; for we have recognized those to be harsher temptations which are wrought through women. Finally, through Eve even Adam was supplanted (Gen. 3, 6); and thus it came about that he strayed from the heavenly mandates.

Quo errore cognito, praevaricatricis conscientiae reus latere cupiebat, sed latere non poterat; et ideo ait ei Deus: Adam, ubi es (Ibid., 9)? hoc est, quid eras ante? ubi nunc esse coepisti? ubi te constitueram?

With that error recognized, the accused of a prevaricating conscience wished to lie hidden, but he could not lie hidden; and therefore God said to him: Adam, where are you (Ibid., 9)? that is, what were you before? where have you now begun to be? where had I established you?

quo ipse transgressus es? Agnoscis esse te nudum, quia bonae indumenta fidei perdidisti. Folia sunt ista, quibus nunc velare te quaeris. Repudiasti fructum, sub foliis Legis latere cupis, sed proderis.

To where have you yourself transgressed? You acknowledge that you are naked, because you have lost the garments of good faith. These are leaves, with which you now seek to veil yourself. You have repudiated the fruit, you long to lie hidden beneath the leaves of the Law, but you will be exposed.

Recedere a Domino Deo tuo propter unam mulierem desiderasti, propterea fugis quem videre quaerebas. Cum una muliere te abscondere maluisti, relinquere speculum mundi, incolatum paradisi, gratiam Christi.

You desired to recede from the Lord your God on account of one woman; therefore you flee him whom you were seeking to see. With one woman you preferred to hide yourself, to relinquish the mirror of the world, the habitation of paradise, the grace of Christ.

18. Quid dicam quod etiam Eliam Jezabel cruente persecuta est (III Reg. XIX, 1 et seq.)? quod Joannem Baptistam Herodias fecit occidi (Matth. XIV, 3 et seq.)? Singulae tamen singulos, mihi quo minora longe merita, eo tentamenta graviora.

18. What shall I say, that even Elijah was cruelly persecuted by Jezebel (3 Reg. 19, 1 et seq.)? that John the Baptist was made to be killed by Herodias (Matt. 14, 3 et seq.)? Each woman, however, had her single victim; for me, by how much my merits are far less, by so much the temptations are heavier.

Virtus infirmior, sed plus periculi. Succedunt sibi mulierum vices, alternantur odia, commenta variantur, seniores conveniuntur, 857 praetexitur regis injuria. Quae ratio igitur est adversus hunc vermiculum gravioris tentationis, nisi quia non me, sed Ecclesiam persequuntur?

The strength is feebler, but there is more peril. The turns of women succeed one another, hatreds are alternated, fabrications are varied, the elders are convened, 857 the king’s injury is put forward as a pretext. What rationale, then, is there for a graver temptation against this little worm, except that they are persecuting not me, but the Church?

19. Mandatur denique: Trade basilicam. Respondeo: Nec mihi fas est tradere, nec tibi accipere, Imperator, expedit. Domum privati nullo potes jure temerare, domum Dei existimas auferendam?

19. Finally, it is mandated: Hand over the basilica. I reply: It is not lawful for me to hand it over, nor is it expedient for you to receive it, Emperor. The house of a private person you can by no right violate; do you think the house of God is to be taken away?

Allegatur imperatori licere omnia, ipsius esse universa. Respondeo: Noli te gravare, Imperator, ut putes te in ea, quae divina sunt, imperiali aliquod jus habere. Noli te extollere, sed si vis diutius imperare, esto Deo subditus.

It is alleged that everything is permitted to the Emperor, that all things are his. I answer: Do not burden yourself, Emperor, to think that in those things which are divine you have any imperial right. Do not exalt yourself, but if you wish to rule for a longer time, be subject to God.

Scriptum est: Quae Dei Deo, quae Caesaris Caesari (Matth. XXII, 21). Ad imperatorem palatia pertinent, ad sacerdotem Ecclesiae. Publicorum tibi moenium jus commissum est, non sacrorum.

It is written: The things of God to God, the things of Caesar to Caesar (Matt. 22, 21). To the emperor pertain the palaces; to the priest, the Churches. The right over public walls has been entrusted to you, not over sacred things.

Iterum dicitur mandasse imperatorem: Debeo et ego unam basilicam habere. Respondi: Non tibi licet illam habere. Quid tibi cum adultera?

Again it is said that the emperor has given orders: I too ought to have one basilica. I replied: It is not permitted for you to have it. What have you to do with the adulteress?

Adultera est enim, quae non est legitimo Christi conjugio copulata.

For she is an adulteress who is not joined to the legitimate conjugal bond of Christ.

20. Dum haec tracto, suggestum est mihi cortinas regias esse collectas, refertam autem populo basilicam, praesentiam mei poscere; statimque eo converti sermonem meum, dicens: Quam alta et profunda oracula sunt Spiritus sancti! Matutinis horis lectum est, ut meministis fratres, quod summo animi dolore respondemus:Deus, venerunt gentes in haereditatem tuam (Psal. LXXVIII, 1). Et re vera venerunt gentes, et plus etiam quam gentes venerunt; venerunt enim Gothi, et diversarum nationum viri: venerunt cum armis, et circumfusi occupaverunt basilicam.

20. While I was handling these things, it was reported to me that the royal curtains had been gathered, and that the basilica, replete with people, was demanding my presence; and straightway I converted my discourse thither, saying: How high and deep are the oracles of the Holy Spirit! In the morning hours it was read, as you remember, brothers, that which we answer with the utmost grief of mind:O God, the nations have come into your inheritance (Psal. 78, 1). And in very truth the nations have come, and more even than nations have come; for the Goths have come, and men of diverse nations: they have come with arms, and, surrounding, have occupied the basilica.

Hoc nos ignari tuae altitudinis dolebamus, sed nostra imprudentia aliud opinabatur.

This we, ignorant of your depth, were grieving, but our imprudence was opining otherwise.

21. Venerunt gentes, sed vere in haereditatem tuam venerunt; qui enim gentes venerunt, facti sunt christiani. Qui ad invadendam haereditatem venerunt, facti sunt cohaeredes Dei. Defensores habeo, quos hostes putabam: socios teneo, quos adversarios aestimabam.

21. The nations came, but truly into your inheritance they came; for those who came as nations were made Christians. Those who came to invade the inheritance were made co-heirs of God. I have defenders whom I supposed to be enemies: I hold allies whom I was estimating as adversaries.

Completum est illud quod de Domino Jesu David propheta cecinit, quia factus est in pace locus ejus, et: Ibi confregit cornua arcuum, scutum, gladium et bellum (Psal. LXXV, 3, 4). Cujus enim hoc munus, cujus opus, nisi tuum, Domine Jesu? Videbas ad templum tuum armatos venire: hinc gemere populum, et frequentem adesse, ne basilicam Dei tradere videretur: inde vim militibus imperari.

That is fulfilled which David the prophet sang concerning the Lord Jesus, because his place has been made in peace, and: There he shattered the horns of bows, the shield, the sword, and war (Ps. 75, 3, 4). For whose gift is this, whose work, if not yours, Lord Jesus? You were seeing armed men come to your temple: on this side the people groan, and a crowd is present, lest the basilica of God should seem to be surrendered: on that side violence is being ordered to the soldiers.

Mors ante oculos mihi; ne quid inter haec furori liceret: inseruisti te, Domine, medium, et fecisti utraque unum (Ephes. II, 14). Compescuisti armatos, dicens profecto: Si ad arma concurritur, 858 si in templo meo clausi commoventur, quae utilitas in sanguine meo (Deut. XXXII, 36)? Gratias itaque tibi, Christe.

Death before my eyes; lest anything amid these things be permitted to fury: you inserted yourself, Lord, into the midst, and you made both one (Ephes. 2, 14). You restrained the armed men, indeed saying: If there is a running together to arms, 858 if those shut up in my temple are stirred, what utility is there in my blood (Deut. 32, 36)? Thanks therefore to you, Christ.

Non legatus, neque nuntius, sed tu, domine, salvum fecisti populum tuum: conscidisti saccum meum, et praecinxisti me laetitia (Psal. XXIX, 10, 12).

Not a legate, nor a messenger, but you, Lord, have saved your people: you have torn my sackcloth, and you have girded me with joy (Psal. 29, 10, 12).

22. Haec ego dicebam, miratus imperatoris animum studio militum, obsecratione comitum, precatu populi posse mitescere. Interea nuntiatur mihi missum notarium, qui mandata deferret. Concessi paululum, mandatum intimat.

22. I was saying these things, amazed that the emperor’s mind could be mitigated by the zeal of the soldiers, the supplication of the companions, the prayer of the people. Meanwhile it is announced to me that a notary has been sent, to carry the mandates. I withdrew a little, he intimates the mandate.

Quid tibi visum est, inquit, ut contra placitum faceres? Respondi: Quod placitum sit ignoro, quidve temere factum dicatur, incertum habeo. Ait: Cur presbyteros ad basilicam destinasti?

“What were you thinking,” he said, “that you acted against the decree?” I replied: “I do not know what decree there is, and I hold it uncertain what is said to have been done rashly.” He says: “Why did you assign the presbyters to the basilica?”

Si tyrannus es, scire volo; ut sciam quemadmodum me adversum te praeparem. Retuli dicens me nihil in praejudicium fecisse Ecclesiae: eo tempore quo audieram occupatam esse a militibus basilicam, gemitum tantummodo liberiorem habuisse, multisque adhortantibus ut eo pergerem, dixisse: Tradere basilicam non possum, sed pugnare non debeo. Postea vero quam cognoverim cortinas regias inde esse sublatas, cum me populus eo ire deposceret, direxisse presbyteros; me tamen noluisse ire, sed dixisse: Credo in Christo quod ipse nobiscum faciet imperator.

If you are a tyrant, I wish to know; that I may know how I should prepare myself against you. I reported, saying that I had done nothing to the prejudice of the Church: at the time when I had heard that the basilica was occupied by soldiers, I had had only a freer groan, and, with many exhorting that I should proceed thither, I said: I cannot hand over the basilica, but I ought not to fight. Afterwards indeed, when I learned that the royal curtains had been removed from there, when the people demanded that I go thither, I sent presbyters; yet I was unwilling to go, but said: I trust in Christ that the emperor himself will act with us.

23. Si haec tyrannidis videntur, habeo arma, sed in Christi nomine: habeo offerendi mei corporis potestatem. Quid moraretur ferire, si tyrannum putaret? Veteri jure a sacerdotibus donata imperia, non usurpata: et vulgo dici quod imperatores sacerdotium magis optaverint, quam imperium sacerdotes.

23. If these things seem to be tyranny, I have arms, but in the name of Christ: I have the power of offering my body. What would hinder him from striking, if he thought me a tyrant? By ancient right empires have been granted by priests, not usurped: and it is commonly said that emperors have desired the priesthood more, rather than priests the empire.

Christus fugit, ne rex fieret (Joan. VI, 15). Habemus tyrannidem nostram. Tyrannis sacerdotis, infirmitas est: Cum infirmor, inquit, tunc potens sum (II Cor.

Christ fled, lest he be made king (John 6, 15). We have our own tyranny. The priest’s tyranny is infirmity: When I am weak, he says, then I am powerful (2 Cor.

XII, 10). Cavere tamen ne ipse sibi tyrannum faceret, cui Deus adversarium non excitavit. Non hoc maximum dicere, quod tyrannus ego sim Valentiniani, qui se meae legationis objectu queritur ad Italiam non potuisse transire. Addidi quia numquam sacerdotes tyranni fuerunt, sed tyrannos saepe sunt passi.

(12, 10). To beware, however, lest he make for himself a tyrant, for whom God has not aroused an adversary. It is no great thing to say this, that I am a tyrant to Valentinian, who complains that, by the obstacle of my legation, he was not able to cross into Italy. I added that priests have never been tyrants, but have often suffered tyrants.

24. Exactus est totus ille dies in moerore nostro: scissae tamen ab illudentibus pueris cortinae regiae. Ego domum redire non potui; quia circumfusi erant milites, qui basilicam custodiebant. Cum fratribus psalmos in ecclesiae basilica minore diximus.

24. That whole day was spent in our mourning: yet the royal curtains were torn by jeering boys. I could not return home; for the soldiers were massed around, who were guarding the basilica. With the brethren we recited psalms in the smaller basilica of the church.

25. Sequenti die lectus est de more liber Jonae, quo completo, hunc sermonem adorsus sum: Liber lectus est, fratres, quo prophetatur quod peccatores in poenitentiam revertantur. Acceptum est ita,859 ut speraretur in praesenti futurum. Addidi quod vir justus etiam offensam contrahere voluisset, ne vel spectaret, vel denuntiaret excidium civitati.

25. On the following day the book of Jonah was read according to custom; when this was completed, I began this sermon: The book has been read, brothers, in which it is prophesied that sinners return to penitence. It was received thus,859 that it was hoped it would come to pass in the present. I added that even a just man would have wished to incur offense, lest he either behold or denounce ruin to the city.

Et quod lugubre esset illud dictum, contristatus quoque sit, quod aruisset cucurbita. Deum quoque dixisse ad prophetam: Si tristis es pro cucurbita? Respondisse Jonam: Tristis. Dixisse Dominum, si illud doleret quod exusta esset cucurbita, quanto magis sibi curae esse oportere tantae plebis salutem! Et ideo excidium, quod paratum toti urbi fuerat, removisse.

And that that saying was lugubrious, he was also made sad that the gourd had dried up. God, too, was said to have spoken to the prophet: Are you sad on account of the gourd? Jonah replied: Sad. The Lord said that, if he felt grief for that because the gourd had been burned up, how much more ought the salvation of so great a people to be his concern! And therefore he removed the destruction which had been prepared for the whole city.

26. Nec mora, nuntiatur imperatorem jussisse, ut recederent milites de basilica: negotiatoribus quoque, quod exacti de condemnatione fuerant, redderetur. Quae tunc plebis totius laetitia fuit! qui totius populi plausus!

26. No delay: it is announced that the emperor had ordered that the soldiers withdraw from the basilica; and that to the merchants, what had been exacted on account of the condemnation, be returned. What joy then of the whole plebs! what applause of the whole people!

quae gratiae! Erat autem dies quo sese Dominus pro nobis tradidit, quo in Ecclesia poenitentia relaxatur. Certatim hoc nuntiare milites, irruentes in altaria, osculis significare pacis insigne.

what thanksgivings! Now it was the day on which the Lord handed himself over for us, on which in the Church penance is relaxed. Vying to announce this, the soldiers, rushing upon the altars, by kisses signify the emblem of peace.

Tunc agnovi quod Deus vermem antelucanum percusserat, ut tota civitas servaretur.

Then I recognized that God had struck the pre-dawn worm, so that the whole city might be saved.

27. Haec gesta sunt, atque utinam jam finita! sed graviores motus futuros plena commotionis imperialia verba indicant. Ego tyrannus appellor, et plus etiam quam tyrannus.

27. These things have been done, and would that they were already finished! but the imperial words, full of commotion, indicate graver disturbances to come. I am called a tyrant, and even more than a tyrant.

Nam cum imperatorem comites obsecrarent uti prodiret ad Ecclesiam; idque petitu militum facere se dicerent, respondit: Si vobis jusserit Ambrosius, vinctum me tradetis. Quid post hanc vocem supersit, considera. Quam vocem omnes cohorruerunt, sed habet a quibus exasperetur.

For when the companions besought the emperor to go forth to the Church; and said that they were doing this at the soldiers’ petition, he responded: If Ambrose orders you, you will hand me over bound. Consider what remains after this word. At which word all shuddered, but he has those by whom he is exasperated.

28. Denique etiam speciali expressione Calligonus, praepositus cubiculi, mandare mihi ausus est: Me vivo, tu contemnis Valentinianum? Caput tibi tollo. Respondi: Deus permittat tibi, ut impleas quod minaris; ego enim patiar quod episcopi, tu facies quod spadones.

28. Finally, even by a special express message, Calligonus, prefect of the bedchamber, dared to send word to me: While I live, do you contemn Valentinian? I will take off your head. I replied: May God permit you to fulfill what you threaten; for I will suffer what befits bishops, you will do what befits eunuchs.

Atque utinam Deus avertat eos ab Ecclesia, in me omnia sua tela convertant, meo sanguine sitim suam expleant!

And would that God avert them from the Church; let them turn all their darts upon me, let them satiate their thirst with my blood!

EPISTOLA XXIV.

LETTER 24.

Exposito cur legationis suae rationem reddat, quomodo in consistorium ingredi coactus, Maximi osculum recusaverit; et accusationes quibus hic ab eo se deceptum, et a Bautone immissos imperio barbaros criminabatur, in ipsum retorserit, narrat. Tum ubi retulit, qua libertate Valentiniani clementiam ejus crudelitati opposuerit, utque Gratiani corpus redderetur, institerit, nec non post exprobratam tyranno Vallionis caedem fuerit ejectus, suam non tam de periculo suo, quam de Hygini exsilio sollicitudinem subdit.

Having set forth why he renders an account of his legation, he relates how, forced to enter the consistory, he refused the kiss of Maximus; and how he turned back upon him the accusations by which that man was alleging that he had been deceived by him, and that barbarians had been introduced into the empire by Bauto. Then, when he reported with what liberty he opposed the clemency of Valentinian to his cruelty, and how he pressed that the body of Gratian be restored, and likewise that, after the slaying of Vallio had been flung in the tyrant’s teeth, he was cast out, he subjoins his solicitude, not so much for his own peril, as for the exile of Hyginus.

AMBROSIUS VALENTINIANO IMPERATORI.

AMBROSE TO THE EMPEROR VALENTINIAN.

23. Etsi superioris legationis meae fides ita approbata sit tibi, ut ratio ejus a me non quaeratur, satis enim claruit eo ipso quod aliquot dies retentus sum intra Gallias, me volentia Maximo non recepisse, neque iis adstipulatum, quae ad voluntatem ejus magis, quam ad pacem propenderent: denique non commisisses secundam legationem, nisi primam probasses. Sed quia regredienti mihi decernendi secum imposuit necessitatem, ideo hac epistola expositionem legationis meae insinuandam putavi; ne cujusquam sermo veris prius vana intexeret, quam reditus meus integra, et sincerae veritatis expressa signaculo manifestaret.

23. Although the good faith of my former legation has been so approved by you that its rationale is not sought from me, for it was clear enough by that very fact that I was detained for several days within Gaul, that I was not received with Maximus’s good will, nor had I assented to those things which inclined more to his will than to peace: finally, you would not have committed a second legation unless you had approved the first. But because, as I was returning, he imposed upon me the necessity of deciding the matter with him, therefore by this letter I thought the exposition of my legation should be insinuated; lest anyone’s talk should interweave vain things with the truths before my return should make them manifest, entire, and impressed with the seal of sincere truth.

2. Cum pervenissem Treviros, postridie processi ad palatium. Egressus est ad me vir Gallicanus, praepositus cubiculi, eunuchus regius. Poposci adeundi copiam, quaesivit num rescriptum haberem clementiae tuae.

2. When I had arrived at Trier, on the next day I proceeded to the palace. A Gallican man came out to me, the praepositus of the bedchamber, a royal eunuch. I demanded leave of access; he asked whether I had a rescript of your clemency.

Respondi habere. Retulit non posse me, nisi in consistorio videri. Dixi non esse hunc morem sacerdotalem, certe esse aliqua de quibus serio deberem cum suo principe confabulari.

I replied that I had it. He reported that I could not be seen except in the consistory. I said that this is not the sacerdotal custom, that surely there are certain things about which I ought to confer seriously with his prince.

Quid plura? Consuluit eum, sed eadem referenda credidit; ut liqueret etiam priora ex illius arbitrio deprompta. Dixi tamen alienum id quidem a nostro munere, sed me recepto officio non defuturum; gratam mihi esse humilitatem in tuo praesertim, et quod verum est, fraternae pietatis negotio.

What more? He consulted him, but believed that the same things were to be reported; so that it might be clear that even the earlier points had been drawn from that man’s judgment. I said, however, that that was indeed alien to our office, but that, once my office was resumed, I would not be lacking; that humility was welcome to me, especially in your case, and, what is true, in a business of fraternal piety.

3. Ubi sedit in consistorio, ingressus sum, assurrexit ut osculum daret. Ego inter consistorianos steti. Hortari coeperunt alii, ut ascenderem: vocare ille.

3. When he sat in the consistory, I entered; he rose to give a kiss. I stood among the consistorians. The others began to exhort that I ascend: he to summon me.

Respondi ego: Quid oscularis eum, quem non agnoveris? Si enim me agnovisses, non hoc loco videres. Commotus es, inquit, episcope.

I replied: Why do you kiss him whom you have not recognized? For if you had recognized me, you would not see me in this place. You are moved, says he, bishop.

Non, inquam, injuria, sed verecundia, quod alieno consisto loco. Et prima, inquit, legatione ingressus es consistorium. Nec illud, inquam, mei erroris fuit: vocantis, 889 non ingredientis vitium est.

“Not,” I say, “out of offense, but out of modesty, because I stand in another’s place.” “And at your first legation,” he says, “you entered the consistory.” “Nor,” I say, “was that my error: it is the fault of the one calling, 889 not of the one entering.”

Cur, inquit, ingressus es? Quia, inquam, tunc ut inferiori pacem petebam, nunc ut aequali. Cujus, inquit, beneficio aequali? Respondi: Omnipotentis Dei, qui Valentiniano regnum, quod dederat, reservavit.

“Why,” he said, “did you enter?” “Because,” I said, “then I was seeking peace as from an inferior; now as from an equal.” “By whose benefaction are you an equal?” he said. I replied: “Of the Omnipotent God, who reserved for Valentinian the kingdom which he had given.”

4. Ad postremum erupit dicens: Quoniam me lusistis tu et ille Bauto, qui sibi regnum sub specie pueri vindicare voluit, qui etiam barbaros mihi immisit: quasi ego non habeam, quos possim adducere; cum mihi tot millia barbarorum militent, et annonas a me accipiant. Quod si ego tunc temporis quando venisti, non fuissem retentus, quis mihi obstitisset et virtuti meae?

4. At last he burst out, saying: Since you and that Bauto have played me for a fool, he who wished to claim the kingdom for himself under the guise of the boy, who even sent barbarians in upon me: as if I did not have those whom I could bring in; since so many thousands of barbarians soldier for me and receive grain-rations from me. But if at that time when you came I had not been detained, who would have stood in my way and in the way of my prowess?

5. Ad haec ego leniter: Non opus est, inquam, ut commovearis, cum causa nulla sit commotionis: sed patienter audias, quae referantur istis. Propterea et ego veni, quia prima legatione, dum mihi credis, per me deceptum te esse asserebas. Gloriosum mihi est et hoc pro salute pupilli imperatoris.

5. To this I, gently, [said]: There is no need, I say, for you to be stirred, since there is no cause of commotion; but patiently listen to what is being reported by those men. For this reason I too have come, because on the first embassy, while you trusted me, you kept asserting that you had been deceived through me. It is glorious to me even in this, for the safety of the emperor who is a ward.

Quos enim episcopi magis, quam pupillos debemus tueri? Scriptum est enim: Judicate pupillo, et justificate viduam, et eripite injuriam accipientem (Esai. I, 17); et alibi: Judices viduarum, et patres orphanorum (Ps. LXVII, 6).

Whom, indeed, ought bishops to protect more than wards? For it is written: Judge for the ward, and justify the widow, and snatch away the wrong from the one receiving it (Isaiah 1, 17); and elsewhere: Judges of widows, and fathers of orphans (Psalm 67, 6).

6. Tamen non exprobrabo beneficium meum Valentiniano. Ut verum eloquar, ubi ego tuis legionibus obstiti, queminus influeres in Italiam? Quibus rupibus?

6. Nevertheless I will not upbraid Valentinian with my beneficence. To speak the truth, where did I stand in the way of your legions, so as to hinder you from flowing into Italy? By what crags?

qua acie? quibus numeris? An vero corpore meo clausi tibi Alpes?

By what battle-line? With what numbers? Or indeed did I close the Alps to you with my body?

Utinam hoc meum esset! objectionem non timerem, non vererer criminationes tuas. Quibus promissis lusi te, ut paci acquiesceres?

Would that this were my doing! I would not fear the objection; I would not dread your criminations. With what promises did I delude you, that you might acquiesce in peace?

Nonne intra Gallias juxta urbem Moguntiacum comes Victor occurrit mihi, quem direxisti, ut pacem rogaret? In quo ergo te fefellit Valentinianus, qui prius pacem a te rogatus est, quam postularet? In quo te fefellit Bauto, qui devotionem imperatori exhibuit suo?

Did not Count Victor meet me within Gaul, near the city of Moguntiacum, whom you dispatched to ask for peace? In what, then, did Valentinian deceive you, he who was first asked by you for peace before he could demand it? In what did Bauto deceive you, who displayed devotion to his own emperor?

An quia principem suum non prodidit?

Or because he did not betray his emperor?

7. In quo ego te circumscripsi? Qui ubi primum veni, cum diceres quod Valentinianus ad te quasi filius ad patrem venire deberet; responderim non esse aequum, ut aspero hiemis tempore puer cum matre vidua penetraret Alpes: sine matre autem tanto itineri dubiis rebus committeretur? De pace nobis legationem commissam, non de adventu ejus promissionem: spondere nos id non potuisse certum est, quod mandatum non erat: me certe nihil spopondisse, adeo ut diceres: Exspectemus quid Victor responsi referat.

7. In what have I circumscribed you? When I first came, while you were saying that Valentinian ought to come to you as a son to a father; I replied that it was not equitable, that in the harsh time of winter the boy with his widowed mother should penetrate the Alps: but without his mother he should be entrusted to so great a journey amid dubious circumstances? As to peace a legation was committed to us, not a promise of his advent: it is certain we could not pledge that which was not mandated: I for my part certainly pledged nothing, to such a degree that you said: Let us wait to see what answer Victor brings back.

Illum autem liquet, me retento, pervenisse Mediolanum; negatumque ei, 890 quod postulabat. De pace tantum conspirare studia, non de adventu imperatoris, quem moveri non oporteret. Praesens eram, ubi Victor rediit.

But it is clear that he, with me being detained, reached Mediolanum; and what he was demanding was denied to him, 890. That the endeavors should conspire only toward peace, not toward the arrival of the emperor, who ought not to be set in motion. I was present when Victor returned.

Quomodo ergo revocavi Valentinianum? Legati iterum missi ad Gallias, qui ejus adventum negarent, apud Valentiam Gallorum me repererunt: milites utriusque partis, qui custodirent juga montium, offendi revertens. Quos ego tuos revocavi exercitus?

How then did I recall Valentinian? Legates, sent again to Gaul to deny his advent, found me at Valentia of the Gauls; returning, I encountered soldiers of both parties who were guarding the ridges of the mountains. Which of your armies did I recall?

quas de Italia reflexi aquilas? quos immisit barbaros Bauto comes?

Which eagles did I turn back from Italy? What barbarians did Count Bauto let in?

8. Et quid mirum si hoc Bauto fecisset, Transrhenanus genere; cum tu miniteris imperio Romano barbarorum auxilia, et turmas translimitanas, quibus commeatus provincialium tributa solvebant? Vide autem quid intersit inter tuas minitationes, et Valentiniani augusti pueri mansuetudinem. Tu flagitabas quod barbarorum stipatus agminibus Italiae te infunderes: Valentinianus Hunnos atque Alanos appropinquantes Galliae per Alemanniae terras reflexit.

8. And what wonder if Bauto had done this, a Transrhenanian by race; when you threaten the Roman imperium with barbarian auxiliaries and cross-limes squadrons, for whose provisions the tributes of the provincials were being expended? See, however, what difference there is between your menaces and the mildness of Valentinian, the boy-Augustus. You were shamelessly demanding that, packed with the battle-lines of barbarians, you should pour yourself into Italy; Valentinian bent back the Huns and the Alans, who were approaching Gaul, through the lands of Alemannia.

Quid habet invidiae, si Bauto barbaros cum barbaris fecit decernere? Quoniam dum tu militem Romanum occupas, dum is adversum se utrinque praetendit, in medio Romani imperii sinu Juthungi populabantur Rhetias; et ideo adversus Juthungum Hunnus accitus est. Idem tamen quia de finitimo proterebat Alemanniam, et jam de vicinia mali urgebat Gallias; coactus est triumphos suos deserere, ne tu timeres.

What is there of envy, if Bauto made barbarians decide with barbarians? For while you occupy the Roman soldier, while he is put forward on both sides against himself, in the very bosom of the Roman empire the Juthungi were ravaging the Raetias; and therefore against the Juthungus a Hun was called in. The same, however, because from the bordering region he was driving headlong Alemannia, and already from the vicinity the ill was pressing upon Gaul, was forced to desert his triumphs, that you might not be afraid.

Confer utriusque factum. Tu fecisti incursari Rhetias, Valentinianus suo tibi auro pacem redemit.

Compare the deed of each. You caused the Rhetias to be incursed; Valentinian redeemed peace for you with his own gold.

9. Aspice illum quoque, qui tibi ad dexteram assistit, quem Valentinianus, cum posset suum dolorem ulcisci, honoratum ad te redire fecit. Tenebat eum in suis terris, atque in ipso nuntio necis fraternae frenavit impetus: nec tibi vicem etsi non parilis dignitatis, ejusdem tamen necessitudinis retulit. Confer ergo, te judice, utriusque factum.

9. Look at that man as well, who stands at your right hand, whom Valentinian, when he could have avenged his own dolor, caused to return to you honored. He was holding him in his own lands, and, at the very message of a fraternal murder, he reined in his impetuses; nor did he exact of you a return, though not of equal dignity, yet of the same bond. Compare, therefore, with you as judge, the deed of each.

Ille tibi fratrem tuum viventem remisit, tu illi vel mortuum redde. Quid illi reliquias germani abnegas, qui tibi adversum se auxilia non negavit?

He sent back to you your brother alive; you to him at least return a dead one. Why do you deny to him the remains of his own brother, who did not deny to you aid against himself?

10. Sed vereris ne exuviarum reditu renovetur militibus dolor; hoc enim allegas. Quem viventem deseruerunt, eum defendent peremptum? Quid eum mortuum times, quem occidisti, cum posses servare?

10. But you fear lest by the return of the remains the grief be renewed among the soldiers; for this you allege. Him whom they deserted alive, will they defend when slain? Why do you fear him dead, whom you killed, when you could have saved him?

Hostem, inquis, meum peremi. Non ille tuus hostis, sed tu illius. Ille jam non sentit defensionem, tu causam considera.

You say, “I slew my enemy.” Not he your enemy, but you his. He now no longer feels any defense; you consider the cause.

Si quis adversum te hodie imperium in his partibus usurpandum putet, quaero utrum te hostem illius dicas, an illum tibi? 891 Nisi fallor, usurpator bellum infert, imperator jus suum tuetur. Ergo quem non debueras occidere, ejus reliquias negas?

If anyone should think that today in these parts the imperium is to be usurped against you, I ask whether you say that you are his enemy, or he yours? 891 Unless I am mistaken, the usurper brings war, the emperor safeguards his right. Therefore, him whom you ought not to have killed, do you deny his remains?

Habeat Valentinianus imperator vel fratris exuvias pacis tuae obsides. Et quomodo allegabas quod eum non mandaveris occidi, quem prohibes sepeliri? Poterit igitur credi quod ei non invideris vitam, cui etiam sepulturam invides?

Let Emperor Valentinian have even his brother’s remains as hostages of your peace. And how do you allege that you did not order him to be killed, whom you forbid to be buried? Will it then be believed that you did not begrudge him life, to whom you even begrudge burial?

11. Sed ad me revertar. Audio te queri quod se ad Theodosium imperatorem potius contulerint, qui sunt cum Valentiniano imperatore. Quid igitur futurum sperabas, cum tu refugientes eos ad poenam posceres, captos necares: Theodosius autem muneribus ditaret, donaret honoribus?

11. But let me return to my point. I hear you complain that those who are with Emperor Valentinian have rather betaken themselves to Emperor Theodosius. What then did you hope would be the outcome, when you were demanding those seeking refuge for punishment, slaying them when captured: but Theodosius was enriching with gifts, bestowing honors?

Quos, inquit, occidi? Respondi ei, Vallionem. At quem virum?

"Whom," he says, "did I kill?" I replied to him, "Vallio." "But what a man!"

qualem bellatorem? Haeccine fuit justa causa exitii, quod imperatori suo fidem servavit? Non ego, inquit, eum jussi occidi.

What sort of warrior? Was this indeed a just cause for his destruction, that he kept faith with his emperor? I did not, he says, order him to be killed.

Respondi: Hoc audivimus, quod occidi jussus sit. Sed, inquit, si ipse sibi vim non intulisset, jusseram eum deduci Cabillonum, et ibi vivum exuri. Respondi: Ergo propterea et illud creditum est, quod eum occideris.

I replied: We have heard this, that he was ordered to be killed. But, he said, if he had not inflicted violence upon himself, I would have ordered him to be led to Cabillonum, and there to be burned alive. I replied: Therefore for that reason that too has been believed, that you killed him.

Quis autem sibi parcendum putaret, cum occisus sit bellator strenuus, miles fidelis, comes utilis? Ita tum discessi, ut se tractaturum diceret.

But who would think that he ought to be spared, when a strenuous warrior, a faithful soldier, a useful companion has been slain? Thus then I departed, with him saying that he would treat it.

12. Postea cum videret me abstinere ab episcopis, qui communicabant ei, vel qui aliquos, devios licet a fide, ad necem petebant; commotus eis jussit me sine mora regredi. Ego vero libenter, etsi me plerique insidias evasurum non crederent, ingressus sum iter, hoc solo dolore percitus, quod Hyginum episcopum senem in exsilium duci comperi, cui nihil jam nisi extremus superesset spiritus. Cum de eo convenirem comites ejus, ne sine veste, sine plumario paterentur extrudi senem, extrusus ipse sum.

12. Afterwards, when he saw me abstaining from the bishops who communicated with him, or who were demanding that certain persons, though astray from the faith, be put to death; moved by them he ordered me to return without delay. But I gladly, although many did not believe I would escape ambushes, entered upon the journey, pierced by this grief alone: that I discovered Hyginus, an aged bishop, was being led into exile, for whom now nothing remained except the last breath. When I conferred with his companions about him, that they should not allow the old man to be thrust out without clothing, without a feather-bed, I myself was thrust out.

13. Haec est expositio legationis meae. Vale, Imperator; et esto tutior adversus hominem pacis involucro bellum tegentem.

13. This is the exposition of my legation. Farewell, Emperor; and be the more guarded against the man who, under the covering of peace, conceals war.

EPISTOLA XL.

LETTER 40.

Ab imperatore audiri se postulat, affirmans in principe laudari facilitatem; tacere se sine utriusque periculo non posse; nec regibus displicere libertatem; illum vero, quamvis pius sit, decipi posse; sententiam de synagoga reparanda esse periculosam, cum episcopum martyrio vel praevaricationi exponat. In hanc rem exemplo Juliani proposito, rescripti causae refelluntur, maxime quod Judaei plures usserint ecclesias. Hinc agitur de Valentinianorum, qui gentilibus pejores declarantur, fano, ac donariis, quae dicebantur sublata, extenuatis, januam ad calumnias Judaeis aperiri, triumphumque de Christo dari demonstratur.

He demands to be heard by the emperor, affirming that in a prince leniency is praised; that he cannot keep silent without danger to both; nor does freedom of speech displease kings; that he, though pious, can be deceived; that the judgment about a synagogue to be repaired is dangerous, since it exposes a bishop to martyrdom or to prevarication. For this matter, with the example of Julian set forth, the reasons for the rescript are refuted, especially that the Jews have burned several churches. Hence there is discussion about the shrine of the Valentinians—who are declared worse than the gentiles—and, the donations which were said to have been removed being extenuated, it is shown that a door is opened for calumnies to the Jews, and that a triumph over Christ is given.

Hac de re allegorica instituitur Domini expostulatio; postquam deterretur Maximi exemplo Theodosius, neve Judaeos aut haereticos ulcisci velit, admonitus, denuo stimulatur ad clementiam.

On this matter an allegorical remonstrance of the Lord is instituted; after Theodosius is deterred by the example of Maximus, and, being admonished not to wish to avenge himself upon the Jews or the heretics, he is once more stimulated to clemency.

Clementissimo principi, ac beatissimo imperatori THEODOSIO augusto AMBROSIUS episcopus.

To the most clement prince, and most blessed emperor THEODOSIUS Augustus, AMBROSE, bishop.

1. Exercitus semper jugibus fere curis sum, Imperator beatissime: sed numquam tanto in aestu fui, quanto nunc; cum video cavendum ne quid sit, quod ascribatur mihi etiam de sacrilegii periculo. Itaque peto ut patienter sermonem meum audias. Nam si indignus sum, qui a te audiar; indignus sum, qui pro te offeram, cui tua vota, cui tuas committas preces.

1. I am always harassed by almost continual cares, Emperor most blessed: but never have I been in so great an agitation as now; when I see that one must beware lest there be anything which may be ascribed to me even in the matter of the peril of sacrilege. And so I ask that you patiently hear my discourse. For if I am unworthy to be heard by you; I am unworthy to offer on your behalf, to whom you entrust your vows, to whom you commit your prayers.

Ipse ergo non audies eum, quem pro te audiri velis? Non audies pro se agentem, quem pro aliis audisti? Nec vereris judicium tuum, ne cum indignum putaris, quem audias, indignum feceris, qui pro te audiatur?

Will you yourself, then, not hear him whom you would wish to be heard on your behalf? Will you not hear the one pleading for himself, whom you have heard on behalf of others? And do you not fear your own judgment, lest, when you have judged unworthy the man whom you would hear, you make unworthy the one who is to be heard for you?

2. Sed neque imperiale est libertatem dicendi denegare, neque sacerdotale, quod sentias, non dicere. Nihil enim in vobis imperatoribus tam populare et tam amabile est, quam libertatem etiam in iis diligere, qui obsequio militiae vobis subditi sunt. Siquidem hoc interest inter bonos et malos principes, quod boni libertatem amant, servitutem improbi.

2. But it is neither imperial to deny liberty of speaking, nor sacerdotal to refrain from saying what you think. For there is nothing in you emperors so popular and so amiable as to love liberty even in those who, by the obedience of soldiery, are subject to you. Indeed, this is the difference between good and bad princes: that the good love liberty, the wicked slavery.

Nihil etiam in sacerdote tam periculosum apud Deum, tam turpe apud homines, quam quod sentiat, non libere denuntiare. Siquidem scriptum est: Et loquebar in testimoniis tuis in conspectu regum, et non confundebar (Psal. CXVIII, 46); et alibi: Fili hominis, speculatorem te posui domui Israel, in eo, inquit, ut si avertatur justus a justitiis suis, et fecerit delictum; quia non distinxisti ei, hoc est, non dixisti quid sit cavendum, non retinebitur memoria justitiae ejus, et sanguinem ejus de manu tua exquiram.

Nothing also in a priest is so perilous before God, so shameful before men, as not to proclaim freely what he perceives. For it is written: And I spoke of your testimonies in the sight of kings, and I was not confounded (Psal. 118, 46); and elsewhere: Son of man, I have set you as a watchman for the house of Israel, he says, to this end, that if the just man be turned away from his justices and commit an offense; because you did not make a clear distinction for him, that is, you did not say what is to be guarded against, the memory of his righteousness shall not be retained, and I will require his blood at your hand.

Tu autem si distinxeris justo, ut non 947 peccet, et ipse non peccaverit, justus vita vivet; quia dixisti ei: et tu animam tuam liberabis (Ezech. III, 17-19).

But you, if you have warned the just man, so that he may not 947 sin, and he himself has not sinned, the just man will live by life; because you have said to him: and you will free your soul (Ezek. 3, 17-19).

3. Malo igitur, Imperator, bonorum mihi esse tecum, quam malorum consortium; et ideo clementiae tuae displicere debet sacerdotis silentium, libertas placere. Nam silentii mei periculo involveris, libertatis bono juvaris. Non ergo importunus indebitis me intersero, alienis ingero: sed debitis obtempero, mandatis Dei nostri obedio.

3. Therefore I prefer, Emperor, to be with you among the good rather than in consortium with the wicked; and for that reason the silence of a priest ought to displease your clemency, liberty to please. For by the peril of my silence you are entangled; by the good of liberty you are helped. I do not therefore importunately thrust myself into undue matters, nor intrude into what is another’s; rather I comply with what is due, I obey the mandates of our God.

Quod facio primum tui amore, tui gratia, tuae studio conservandae salutis. Si id mihi vel non creditur, vel interdicitur: dico sane divinae offensae metu. Nam si meum periculum te exueret, patienter me pro te offerrem, sed non libenter; malo enim te sine meo acceptum Deo esse et gloriosum periculo.

I do this first out of love for you, for your sake, with zeal for the conserving of your salvation. If this is either not believed of me, or is interdicted: I speak, assuredly, from fear of divine offense. For if my peril would rid you, I would patiently offer myself for you, though not gladly; for I prefer that you be acceptable to God and glorious without my peril.

Sin autem silentii mei dissimulationisque culpa et me ingravat, nec te liberat; malo importuniorem me, quam inutiliorem aut turpiorem judices. Siquidem scriptum est, dicente sancto apostolo Paulo, cujus non potes doctrinam refellere: Insta opportune, importune; argue, obsecra, increpa in omni patientia et doctrina (II Tim. IV, 2).

But if, however, the fault of my silence and dissimulation both weighs upon me and does not free you; I would rather that you judge me more importunate than more unprofitable or more shameful. Since it is written, the holy Apostle Paul speaking, whose doctrine you cannot refute: Be urgent opportunely, inopportunely; reprove, beseech, rebuke in all patience and doctrine (2 Tim. 4, 2).

4. Habemus ergo et nos cui displicere plus periculi sit; praesertim cum etiam imperatoribus non displiceat suo quemque fungi munere, et patienter audiatis unumquemque pro suo suggerentem officio; immo corripiatis, si non utatur militiae suae ordine. Quod ergo in iis libenter accipitis, qui vobis militant, num hoc in sacerdotibus potest molestum videri; cum id loquamur, non quod volumus, sed quod jubemur? Scis enim lectum:Cum stabitis ante reges et praesides, nolite cogitare quid loquamini; dabitur enim vobis in illa hora quid loquamini: non enim vos estis qui loquimini, sed Spiritus Patris vestri, qui loquitur in vobis (Matth.

4. Therefore we too have one to whom it would carry more danger to give displeasure; especially since it is not displeasing even to emperors that each person discharge his own munus, and you patiently listen to each one suggesting according to his own office; nay rather you rebuke, if he does not use the order of his own militia. What therefore you gladly receive in those who militate for you, can this seem troublesome in priests, since we speak, not what we wish, but what we are commanded? For you know it is read:When you stand before kings and governors, do not think what you should say; for it will be given to you in that hour what you should say: for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you (Matth.

X, 19, 20). Et tamen si in causis reipublicae loquar, quamvis etiam illic justitia servanda sit, non tanto astringar metu, si non audiar; in causa vero Dei quem audies, si sacerdotem non audias, cujus majore peccatur periculo? Quis tibi verum audebit dicere, si sacerdos non audeat?

10, 19, 20). And yet, if I were to speak in causes of the republic, although even there justice must be observed, I would not be constrained by so great a fear if I am not heard; but in the cause of God, whom will you hear, if you do not hear the priest, in whose case one sins with greater peril? Who will dare to speak the truth to you, if the priest does not dare?

5. Novi te pium, clementem, mitem, atque tranquillum, fidem ac timorem Domini cordi948 habentem: sed plerumque aliqua nos fallunt. Habent aliqui zelum Dei, sed non secundum scientiam (Rom. X, 2). Ne igitur hoc etiam fidelibus animis obrepat, cavendum arbitror.

5. I know you to be pious, clement, mild, and tranquil, having faith and fear of the Lord at heart948: but oftentimes certain things deceive us. Some have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Rom. 10, 2). Therefore, lest this too creep upon faithful minds, I judge that it must be guarded against.

Novi pietatem tuam erga Deum, lenitatem in homines: obligatus sum beneficiis tuarum indulgentiarum. Et ideo plus metuo, amplius sollicitor; ne etiam ipse tuo me postea judicio condemnes, quod mea aut dissimulatione aut adulatione prolapsionem non evitaveris. Si in me peccari viderem, non deberem tacere; scriptum est enim: Si frater tuus in te peccaverit, corripe illum primo, deinde increpa, duobus aut tribus testibus (Matth.

I know your piety toward God, your lenity toward men: I am bound by the benefits of your indulgences. And therefore I fear more, I am more solicitous; lest you yourself also afterwards condemn me by your judgment, on the ground that by my dissimulation or adulation you did not avoid a lapse. If I should see that one sinned against me, I ought not to be silent; for it is written: If your brother shall sin against you, correct him first, then reprove, with two or three witnesses (Matt.

XVIII, 15 et seq.). Si te non audierit, dic Ecclesiae. Causam ergo Dei tacebo? Quid igitur sit, quod metuam consideremus.

18, 15 and following). If he will not hear you, tell the Church. Shall I therefore be silent about the cause of God? Let us then consider what it is that I fear.

6. Relatum est a comite orientis militarium partium incensam esse synagogam, idque auctore factum episcopo. Jussisti vindicari in caeteros, synagogam ab ipso exaedificari episcopo. Non astruo exspectandam fuisse assertionem episcopi; sacerdotes enim turbarum moderatores sunt, studiosi pacis, nisi cum et ipsi moventur injuria Dei, aut Ecclesiae contumelia.

6. It was reported by the Count of the East of the military forces that a synagogue had been set on fire, and that this was done at the bishop’s instigation. You ordered that punishment be taken upon the others, and that the synagogue be rebuilt by the bishop himself. I do not assert that the bishop’s assertion ought to have been awaited; for priests are moderators of tumults, studious of peace, unless when they themselves are moved by injury to God, or by contumely of the Church.

Sit alioquin iste episcopus ferventior in exustione synagogae, timidior in judicio: non vereris, imperator, ne acquiescat sententiae tuae; ne praevaricetur, non times?

Be it otherwise, let this bishop be more fervent in the burning of the synagogue, more timid in judgment: do you not fear, emperor, lest he acquiesce to your judgment; are you not afraid lest he prevaricate?

7. Non etiam vereris, quod futurum est; ne verbis resistat comiti tuo? Necesse erit igitur ut aut praevaricatorem aut martyrem faciat: utrumque alienum temporibus tuis, utrumque persecutionis instar, si aut praevaricari cogatur, aut subire martyrium. Vides quo inclinet causae exitus.

7. Do you not also fear what will be; lest he resist with words your count? It will be necessary therefore that you make either a prevaricator or a martyr: each alien to your times, each in the likeness of persecution, if he is either compelled to prevaricate or to undergo martyrdom. You see to what the outcome of the case inclines.

Si fortem episcopum putas, caveto martyrium fortioris: si inconstantem, declina lapsum fragilioris: plus enim astringitur, qui labi infirmum coegerit.

If you think the bishop strong, beware the martyrdom of the stronger; if inconstant, turn aside from the fall of the more fragile; for he is bound the more, who has compelled the weak to slip.

8. Hac proposita conditione, puto dicturum episcopum quod ipse ignes sparserit, turbas compulerit, populos conduxerit; ne amittat occasionem martyrii, et pro invalidis subjiciat validiorem. O beatum mendacium, quo acquiritur sibi aliorum absolutio, sui gratia! Hoc est, imperator, quod poposci et ego; ut in me949 magis vindicares: et si hoc crimen putares, mihi ascriberes.

8. With this condition set forth, I think the bishop will say that he himself has scattered the fires, has driven the mobs, has gathered the peoples; lest he lose the occasion of martyrdom, and that on behalf of the weak he may submit the stronger. O blessed mendacity, whereby the absolution of others is acquired for himself, for his own sake! This is, Emperor, what I too have demanded: that you would rather exact punishment on me; and, if you deemed this a crime, you would ascribe it to me in949.

Quid mandas in absentes judicium? Habes praesentem, habes confitentem reum. Proclamo quod ego synagogam incenderim, certe quod ego illis mandaverim; ne esset locus in quo Christus negaretur.

Why do you mandate judgment upon the absent? You have one present, you have a confessing defendant. I proclaim that I myself set the synagogue on fire—certainly that I commanded them to do it; so that there might not be a place in which Christ was denied.

Si objiciatur mihi, cur hic non incenderim? Divino jam cremari coepit judicio: meum cessavit opus. Et si verum quaeritur, ideo segnior fui, quia non putabam hoc vindicandum.

If it be objected to me, why I did not set it ablaze here? By divine judgment it had already begun to be cremated; my work ceased. And if the truth is sought, for that reason I was the slower, because I did not think this was to be vindicated (avenged).

Quid facerem, quod nullo ultore sine praemio foret? Tangunt haec verecundiam, sed revocant gratiam; ne fiat quo Dei summi contrahatur offensio.

What was I to do, seeing that, with no avenger, it would be without reward? These things touch modesty, but they recall grace, lest there be done that by which the offense of the Most High God is contracted.

9. Esto tamen, nemo episcopum ad hoc munus conveniat; rogavi enim clementiam tuam: et licet ipse hoc revocatum adhuc non legerim, revocatum tamen constituamus. Quid si alii timidiores, dum mortem reformidant, offerant ut de suis facultatibus reparetur synagoga; aut comes ubi hoc compererit primo constitutum, ipse de christianorum censu exaedificari jubeat? Habebis, imperator, comitem praevaricatorem, et huic vexilla committes victricia, huic labarum, hoc est, Christi sacratum nomine, qui synagogam instauret, quae Christum nesciat?

9. Granted, however, that no one summon the bishop to this duty; for I have entreated your clemency: and although I myself have not yet read that this has been revoked, nevertheless let us deem it revoked. What if others, more timid, while they dread death, should offer that the synagogue be repaired out of their own resources; or the count, when he has discovered that this was first decreed, should himself order it to be built up from the Christians’ assessment (census)? You will have, emperor, a prevaricating count; and to this man will you entrust the victorious standards, to this man the labarum, that is, hallowed with the name of Christ—he who would restore a synagogue which does not know Christ?

Jube labarum synagogae inferri, videamus si non resistunt.

Order the labarum to be brought into the synagogue; let us see whether they do not resist.

10. Erit igitur locus Judaeorum perfidiae factus de exuviis Ecclesiae: et patrimonium, quod favore Christi acquisitum est christianis, hoc transferetur ad donaria perfidorum? Legimus templa idolis antiquitus condita de manubiis Cimbrorum, de spoliis reliquorum hostium. Hunc titulum Judaei in fronte synagogae suae scribent: Templum impietatis factum de manubiis christianorum.

10. Therefore a place for the perfidy of the Jews will be made out of the spoils of the Church: and the patrimony, which by the favor of Christ has been acquired for Christians, will this be transferred to the donaries of the perfidious? We read that temples long ago founded for idols were made from the spoils of the Cimbri, from the spoils of the remaining enemies. This title the Jews will write on the front of their synagogue: A temple of impiety made from the spoils of Christians.

11.Sed disciplinae te ratio, imperator, movet. Quid igitur est amplius? disciplinae species, an causa religionis?

11.But the rationale of discipline moves you, emperor. What then is more? the form of discipline, or the cause of religion?

Cedat oportet censura devotioni.

Censure ought to yield to devotion.

12. Non audisti, imperator, quia cum jussisset Julianus reparari templum Hierosolymis, divino, qui faciebant repurgium, igne flagrarunt? Non caves ne etiam nunc fiat? Adeo a te non fuit jubendum, ut Julianus hoc jusserit!

12. Have you not heard, emperor, that when Julian ordered the temple at Jerusalem to be repaired, by a divine fire those who were doing the clearing were set ablaze? Do you not beware lest it happen even now? So far from its being something to be ordered by you, that Julian ordered this!

95013. Quid tamen movet? Utrum quia quodcumque aedificium publicum exustum est, an quia synagogae locus? Si aedificio incenso moveris vilissimo (quid enim in tam ignobili castro esse potuit), non recordaris, imperator, quantorum Romae domus praefectorum incensae sint, et nemo vindicavit?

95013. What, however, moves you? Is it because that whatever public building has been burned, or because it is the place of a synagogue? If you are moved by a most paltry building set on fire (for what could there have been in so ignoble a fort), do you not recall, emperor, how many prefects’ houses at Rome have been burned, and no one avenged it?

Immo si quis imperatorum voluit factum severius reprehendere, ejus magis qui tanto est perculsus dispendio, causam gravavit. Quid igitur dignius, ut Callinici castri in parte aliqua aedificiorum incendium, an urbis Romae vindicandum aestimaretur, si oporteret tamen? Constantinopoli dudum domus episcopi incensa est, et filius clementiae tuae intercessit apud patrem; ut et suam, hoc est, filii imperatoris injuriam, et domus sacerdotalis incendium non vindicares.

Nay rather, if any of the emperors wished to reprehend the deed more severely, he more burdened the case of him who has been stricken by so great a loss. What, then, would be more worthy to be reckoned as needing vindication—if, nevertheless, it ought—to wit, the conflagration of some part of the buildings of the fort of Callinicum, or of the city of Rome? At Constantinople, some time ago, the house of a bishop was burned, and the son of Your Clemency interceded with his father, so that you would not vindicate either his own injury—that is, the injury of the emperor’s son—or the burning of the sacerdotal house.

Non consideras, Imperator, ne et hoc cum vindicari jusseris, ipse iterum interveniat, ne vindicetur? Sed bene illud acquisitum est a patre filio; dignum erat enim, ut suam injuriam prius ipse donaret. Bene illud cum gratiae distinctione divisum est, ut et filius pro sua, et pater pro filii injuria rogaretur.

Do you not consider, Emperor, lest also in this, when you have ordered it to be vindicated, he himself again intervene, that it not be vindicated? But that was well acquired from the father by the son; for it was fitting that he himself should first pardon his own injury. Well was that divided with a distinction of grace, so that both the son might be petitioned for his own, and the father for the injury of the son.

Hinc nihil est quod filio reserves, et vide ne quid Deo deroges.

Hence, there is nothing that you should reserve for the son, and see to it that you do not derogate anything from God.

14. Non est ergo causa tantae commotioni idonea; ut propter aedificii exustionem in populum tam severe vindicetur: multo autem minus quia synagoga incensa est, perfidiae locus, impietatis domus, amentiae receptaculum, quod Deus damnavit ipse. Sic enim legimus per os Hieremiae, dicente Domino Deo nostro:Et faciam domui, ubi invocatum est nomen meum super ipsam, in qua confiditis vos, et loco quem dedi vobis et patribus vestris, sicut feci Selon: et projiciam vos a facie mea, sicut projeci fratres vestros omne semen Ephraem. Et tu noli orare pro populo isto, et noli postulare illis misericordiam, et neque accesseris ad me pro illis: quia non exaudiam te. Aut non vides quid isti faciunt in civitatibus Juda (Jerem.

14. Therefore the cause is not suitable for so great a commotion; that on account of the burning of a building the people should be punished so severely: much less indeed because a synagogue has been burned, a place of perfidy, a house of impiety, a receptacle of madness, which God himself condemned. For thus we read through the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord our God saying:And I will do to the house, where my name has been invoked upon it, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh: and I will cast you out from my face, as I cast out your brothers, all the seed of Ephraim. And you, do not pray for this people, and do not ask mercy for them, and neither come near to me on their behalf: because I will not hear you. Or do you not see what these do in the cities of Judah (Jerem.

VII, 14 et seq.)? Deus se pro illis prohibet rogari, quos tu vindicandos putas.

7, 14 and the following)? God forbids himself to be asked on their behalf, those whom you think should be avenged.

15. At certe si jure gentium agerem, dicerem quantas Ecclesiae basilicas Judaei tempore imperii Juliani incenderint. Duas Damasci, quarum una vix reparata est, sed Ecclesiae, non951 synagogae impendiis: altera basilica informibus horret ruinis. Incensae sunt basilicae Gazis, Ascalonae, Beryto, et illis fere locis omnibus, et vindictam nemo quaesivit.

15. But certainly, if I were proceeding by the law of nations, I would say how many basilicas of the Church the Jews set on fire in the time of the reign of Julian. Two at Damascus, of which one has scarcely been repaired—but at the Church’s, not the951 synagogue’s, expense; the other basilica stands bristling with shapeless ruins. The basilicas at Gaza, Ascalon, and Berytus were burned, and in almost all those places, and no one sought vengeance.

Incensa est basilica et Alexandriae a gentilibus et Judaeis, quae sola praestabat caeteris. Ecclesia non vindicata est, vindicabitur synagoga?

A basilica was also burned at Alexandria by the gentiles and the Jews, which alone excelled the rest. The Church has not been vindicated; will the synagogue be vindicated?

16. Vindicabitur etiam Valentinianorum fanum incensum? Quid est enim nisi fanum, in quo est conventus gentilium? Licet gentiles duodecim deos appellent, isti triginta et duos Aeonas colant, quos appellant deos.

16. Will the burned shrine of the Valentinians be avenged as well? For what is it if not a shrine, in which there is an assembly of gentiles? Granted that the gentiles call twelve gods, these worship thirty-two Aeons, whom they call gods.

Nam et de ipsis comperi relatum et praeceptum, ut in monachos vindicaretur, qui prohibentibus iter Valentinianis, quo psalmos canentes ex consuetudine usuque veteri pergebant ad celebritatem Machabaeorum martyrum, moti insolentia incenderunt fanum eorum in quodam rurali vico tumultuarie conditum.

For I have also learned concerning these very persons that it was both reported and commanded that vengeance be taken upon the monks, who, with the Valentinians blocking the way by which, singing psalms according to consuetude and ancient usage, they were proceeding to the celebration of the Maccabean martyrs, moved by the insolence set fire to their shrine, thrown together in tumultuary fashion in a certain rural village.

17. Quanti se offerre habent tali optioni; cum meminerint tempore Juliani illum, qui aram dejecit, et turbavit sacrificium, damnatum a judice fecisse martyrium? Itaque numquam alias ille judex, qui audivit eum, nisi persecutor habitus est; nemo illum congressu, nemo illum umquam osculo dignum putavit. Qui nisi jam esset defunctus, timerem, Imperator, ne in eum tu vindicares, quamquam vindictam coelestem non evaserit, suo superstes haeredi.

17. How many are ready to offer themselves to such an option; since they remember that in the time of Julian the man who cast down the altar and disturbed the sacrifice, having been condemned by the judge, accomplished martyrdom? Therefore that judge who heard him was never regarded otherwise than as a persecutor; no one thought him worthy of a meeting, no one ever thought him worthy of a kiss. Who, unless he were already deceased, I would fear, Emperor, lest you take vengeance upon him, although he has not escaped heavenly vengeance, surviving his own heir.

18. Sed refertur cognitionem mandatam judici, scriptumque eo quod non referre debuerit, sed vindicare: requirenda quoque sublata donaria. Omittam alia: incensae sunt a Judaeis Ecclesiarum basilicae, et nihil redditum est, nihil repetitum, nihil quaesitum. Quid autem habere potuit synagoga in castro ultimo; cum totum quidquid illic est, non multum sit, nihil pretiosum, nihil copiosum?

18. But it is reported that an inquest was entrusted to the judge, and that it was written to him that he ought not to refer it, but to vindicate; and that the offerings which had been carried off were likewise to be sought out. I will omit other things: the basilicas of the Churches were set on fire by the Jews, and nothing was returned, nothing was demanded back, nothing was sought. But what could a synagogue have in the farthest fort; since the whole of whatever is there is not much, nothing precious, nothing abundant?

Quid deinde incendio potuit rapi Judaeis insidiantibus? Artes istae sunt Judaeorum volentium calumniari; ut dum ista queruntur, mandetur extra ordinem militaris censura judicii, mittatur miles fortasse dicturus quod hic aliquando ante tuum, Imperator, dixit adventum: Quomodo poterit nos Christus juvare, qui pro Judaeis adversus Christum militamus? qui mittimur ad vindictam Judaeorum?

What, then, in the conflagration could be snatched away, with the Jews lying in ambush? These are the arts of Jews who wish to calumniate; so that, while they complain of these things, an extraordinary military censure of judgment may be mandated, and a soldier be sent, perhaps about to say what someone here once said before your arrival, Emperor: How will Christ be able to aid us, we who serve as soldiers for the Jews against Christ? we who are sent for the vengeance of the Jews?

Suos perdiderunt exercitus, nostros volunt perdere.

They have lost their own armies, they want to destroy ours.

95219. In quas praeterea non prosiliant calumnias, qui etiam Christo falsis testimoniis calumniati sunt? In quas non prosiliant calumnias homines et circa divina mendaces? Quos non auctores seditionis fuisse dicant?

95219. Into what further calumnies will they not leap, who even calumniated Christ with false testimonies? Into what calumnies will not men, mendacious concerning divine things, leap? Whom will they not say to have been authors of sedition?

Quos non appetant, etiam quos non recognoscant; ut catenatorum ordines innumeros spectent de christiano populo, ut captiva videant colla plebis fidelis, ut condantur in tenebras Dei servuli, ut feriantur securibus, dentur ignibus, tradantur metallis, ne poena cito transeat?

Whom would they not assail, even those whom they do not recognize; that they may look upon innumerable orders of the chained from the Christian people, that they may see the captive necks of the faithful plebs, that the little servants of God may be consigned into darkness, be struck with axes, be given to the fires, be handed over to the mines, lest the punishment pass quickly?

20. Hunc dabis triumphum Judaeis de Ecclesia Dei? hoc tropaeum de Christi populo? haec gaudia, Imperator, perfidis?

20. Will you give this triumph to the Jews over the Church of God? this trophy over the people of Christ? these joys, Emperor, to the perfidious?

hanc celebritatem Synagogae, hos luctus Ecclesiae? Referet Judaeorum populus hanc solemnitatem in dies festos suos; et inter illos profecto numerabit, quibus aut de Amorrhaeis, aut de Chananaeis triumphavit, aut de Pharao rege Aegypti, aut de Nabuchodonosor regis Babyloniae manu liberari potuit. Addet hanc celebritatem, significans se de Christi populo triumphum egisse.

this celebration to the Synagogue, these griefs to the Church? The people of the Jews will commemorate this solemnity on their festal days; and surely they will number it among those on which they either triumphed over the Amorrhaeans or the Chanaanites, or were able to be freed from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, or of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon. They will add this celebration, signifying that they have carried out a triumph over the people of Christ.

21. Et cum ipsi Romanis legibus teneri se negent, ita ut crimina leges putent; nunc velut Romanis legibus se vindicandos putant. Ubi erant istae leges, cum incenderent ipsi sacratarum basilicarum culmina? Si Julianus non est ultus Ecclesiam; quia praevaricator erat: tu, Imperator, ulcisceris synagogae injuriam, quia christianus es?

21. And while they themselves deny that they are held by Roman laws, to such a degree that they reckon crimes to be laws; now they suppose that they should be vindicated as though under Roman laws. Where were those laws when they themselves were setting ablaze the roofs of consecrated basilicas? If Julian did not avenge the Church, because he was an apostate, will you, Emperor, avenge the injury to the synagogue because you are a Christian?

22. Et quid tecum posthac Christus loquetur? Non recordaris quid David sancto per Nathan prophetam mandaverit (II Reg. VII, 8 et seq.)? Ego te de fratribus tuis minorem elegi, et de privato imperatorem feci.

22. And what will Christ speak with you hereafter? Do you not recall what he charged to holy David through the prophet Nathan (2 Kings 7, 8 and following)? I chose you as the lesser among your brothers, and from a private person I made you emperor.

Ego de fructu seminis tui in sede imperiali locavi. Ego tibi subjeci nationes barbaras, ego tibi pacem dedi, ego tibi inimicum tuum in potestatem tuam captivum deduxi. Frumentum non habebas ad exercitus alimoniam, ipsorum hostium manu patefeci tibi portas, aperui horrea: dederunt tibi hostes tui commeatus suos, quos sibi paraverant.

I set from the fruit of your seed upon the imperial seat. I subjected to you barbarian nations, I gave you peace, I led your enemy captive into your power. You did not have grain for the nourishment of the armies; by the very hand of the enemies I laid open the gates for you, I opened the granaries: your enemies gave you their provisions, which they had prepared for themselves.

Ego perturbavi hostis tui consilia, ut se ipse nudaret. Ego ipsum usurpatorem imperii ita vinxi, ac mentem ejus ligavi, ut cum haberet adhuc fugiendi copiam, tamen cum omnibus suis tamquam metuens, ne quis tibi periret, ipse se clauderet. Ego comitem ejus atque exercitum ex 953 altera parte naturae, quos ante disperseram, ne ad belli societatem coirent, ad supplementum tibi victoriae congregavi.

I unsettled your enemy’s counsels, so that he might strip himself bare. I bound the usurper of the empire himself, and I bound his mind, so that, although he still had the means of fleeing, nevertheless, with all his own, as if fearing lest anyone should perish to your detriment, he shut himself in. I gathered his Count and the army from the 953 other side of the natural barrier, whom I had previously scattered, lest they come together into a fellowship of war, for the supplement of victory for you.

Ego exercitum tuum ex multis indomitis convenam nationibus, quasi unius gentis fidem et tranquillitatem et concordiam servare praecepi. Ego cum periculum summum esset ne Alpes infida barbarorum penetrarent consilia, intra ipsum Alpium vallum victoriam tibi contuli, ut sine damno vinceres. Ego ergo te triumphare feci de inimico tuo, et tu de plebe mea das meis inimicis triumphum.

I commanded that your army, composed from many untamed, convened nations, should keep the fidelity and tranquility and concord as if of one single gens. When there was the utmost peril lest the treacherous counsels of the barbarians should penetrate the Alps, I conferred victory upon you within the very rampart of the Alps, so that you might conquer without loss. I therefore caused you to triumph over your enemy, and you from my plebs grant a triumph to my enemies.

23. Nonne propterea Maximus destitutus est, qui ante ipsos expeditionis dies, cum audisset Romae synagogam incensam, edictum Romam miserat, quasi vindex disciplinae publicae? Unde populus christianus ait: Nihil boni huic imminet. Rex iste Judaeus factus est: defensorem istum disciplinae audivimus, quem mox Christus probavit, qui pro peccatoribus mortuus est (Rom.

23. Was not Maximus for this reason left destitute, who, before the very days of the expedition, when he had heard that at Rome a synagogue had been burned, had sent an edict to Rome, as if an avenger of public discipline? Whence the Christian people say: Nothing good is impending for this man. This king has been made a Jew: we have heard this defender of discipline, whom Christ soon approved, who died for sinners (Rom.

V, 6). Si de sermone hoc dictum est, quid de ultione dicetur? Ille igitur statim a Francis, a Saxonum gente, in Sicilia, Sisciae, Petavione: ubique denique terrarum victus est. Quid pio commune cum perfido?

5, 6). If this has been said about speech, what will be said about vengeance? He therefore was immediately defeated by the Franks, by the Saxon race, in Sicily, at Siscia, at Poetovio: in short, everywhere on earth he was conquered. What has the pious in common with the perfidious?

Abolenda cum impio sunt etiam impietatis exempla. Quod illi nocuit, quo victus offendit; hoc non sequi debet, sed damnare, qui vicit.

To be abolished, together with the impious, are also examples of impiety. That which harmed him, whereby the vanquished offended—this the one who has conquered ought not to follow, but to condemn.

24. Itaque illa tibi non quasi ingrato recensui, sed quasi jure collata numeravi; ut his admonitus, cui plus collatum est, plus diligas. Denique hoc respondenti Simoni dixit Dominus Jesus:Recte judicasti (Luc. VII, 44). Statimque conversus ad mulierem quae pedes ejus unguento unxit, typum Ecclesiae gerens, ait Simoni: Propter quod dico tibi: remissa sunt peccata ejus multa, quoniam dilexit multum.

24. Therefore I did not recount those things to you as to an ungrateful man, but I counted them as if conferred by right; so that, admonished by these things, you, to whom more has been conferred, may love more. Finally the Lord Jesus said this to Simon as he was answering:You have judged rightly (Luke 7, 44). And immediately, turning to the woman who anointed his feet with ointment, bearing the type of the Church, he said to Simon: For which reason I say to you: her many sins have been remitted, because she loved much.

Cui autem minus dimittitur, minus diligit (Ibid., 47). Haec est mulier quae in domum Pharisaei intravit, et ejecit Judaeum, Christum autem acquisivit. Ecclesia enim Synagogam exclusit: cur iterum tentatur, ut apud Christi famulum, hoc est, de pectore fidei, de domo Christi Synagoga excludat Ecclesiam?

But he to whom less is forgiven loves less (Ibid., 47). This is the woman who entered into the house of the Pharisee, and cast out the Jew, but acquired Christ. For the Church has excluded the Synagogue: why is it again being attempted that, with Christ’s servant, that is, from the breast of faith, from the house of Christ, the Synagogue should exclude the Church?

25. Haec ego, Imperator, amore et studio tui in hunc sermonem contuli. Debeo enim beneficiis tuis, quibus me petente, liberasti plurimos de exsiliis, de carceribus, de ultimae necis poenis;954 ut malle debeam pro salute tua etiam offensionem tui animi non timere (nemo majore fiducia utitur, quam qui ex affectu diligit: nemo certe debet laedere, qui sibi consulit) ne tot annorum conceptam cujuscumque sacerdotis gratiam uno momento amittam. Et tamen non damnum gratiae deprecor, sed salutis periculum.

25. These things I, Emperor, out of love and zeal for you, have brought into this discourse. For I am in debt to your benefactions, by which, at my request, you freed very many from exiles, from prisons, from the penalties of ultimate execution;954 so that I ought to prefer, for your welfare, not to fear even your displeasure (no one employs greater confidence than he who loves from affection: surely no one ought to wound who looks to his own interest), lest I lose in a single moment the favor of whatever priest, amassed through so many years. And yet I deprecate not a loss of favor, but a peril to salvation.

26. Quamquam quantum est, Imperator, ut quaerendum aut vindicandum non putes, quod in hunc diem nemo quaesivit, nemo umquam vindicavit? Grave est fidem tuam pro Judaeis periclitari. Gedeon cum occidisset sacratum vitulum (Judic.

26. And yet, how small a thing is it, Emperor, to think as not to be sought out or punished that which to this day no one has sought, no one has ever punished? It is grave that your faith be imperiled for the Jews. Gideon, when he had slain the consecrated calf (Judg.

VI, 31), dixerunt gentiles: Dii ipsi injuriam suam vindicent. Quis habet Synagogam vindicare? Christus quem occiderunt, quem negaverunt?

6, 31), the gentiles said: Let the gods themselves avenge their own injury. Who has to avenge the Synagogue? Christ, whom they killed, whom they denied?

An Deus Pater vindicabit eos, qui nec Patrem recipiunt, dum Filium non receperunt? Quis habet Valentinianorum haeresim vindicare: quam pietas tua quomodo vindicat, cum eos excludi jusserit, nec conveniendi usurpare copiam (IV Reg. XXII, 2)? Si Josiam tibi objiciam regem Deo probatum, hoc in istis damnabis, quod in illo probatum est.

Will God the Father vindicate those who do not even receive the Father, since they did not receive the Son? Who has to vindicate the Valentinians’ heresy: which your piety—how does it vindicate it, since it has ordered them to be excluded, and not to usurp the opportunity of assembling (4 Kings 22, 2)? If I were to set before you Josiah, a king approved by God, you would condemn in these men that which was approved in him.

27. Certe si mihi parum fidei defertur, jube adesse quos putaveris episcopos: tractetur, Imperator, quid salva fide agi debeat. Si de causis pecuniariis comites tuos consulis, quanto magis in causa religionis sacerdotes Domini aequum est consulas!

27. Certainly, if too little trust is accorded to me, order to be present whichever bishops you shall have considered; let it be discussed, Emperor, what ought to be done with the faith kept safe. If in pecuniary causes you consult your counts, how much more, in the cause of religion, is it equitable that you consult the priests of the Lord!

28. Consideret clementia tua quantos insidiatores habeat Ecclesia, quantos exploratores: levem rimam si offenderint, figent aculeum. Secundum homines loquor: caeterum plus hominibus Deus timetur, qui etiam imperatoribus jure praefertur. Si amico aliquis, si parenti aut propinquo deferendum existimat, recte ego et deferendum Deo, et eum praeferendum omnibus judicavi.

28. Let your clemency consider how many ambushers the Church has, how many scouts: if they hit upon a slight fissure, they will drive in the barb. I speak according to men; moreover, God is feared more than men, who also by right is preferred even to emperors. If someone deems that deference is to be shown to a friend, to a parent or kinsman, rightly have I judged both that deference is to be shown to God, and that He is to be preferred to all.

Consule tibi, Imperator, aut patere me consulere mihi.

Consult for yourself, Emperor, or allow me to consult for myself.

29. Quid respondebo postea, si compertum fuerit, data hinc auctoritate, aliquos christianorum aut gladio, aut fustibus, aut plumbeis necatos? Quomodo hoc purgabo factum? Quomodo excusabo apud episcopos, qui nunc quia per triginta et innumeros annos presbyteri quidam955 gradu functi, vel ministri Ecclesiae retrahuntur a munere sacro, et curiae deputantur, graviter gemunt?

29. What shall I answer afterwards, if it be found that, with authority given from here, some of the Christians have been killed by the sword, or with cudgels, or with leaden scourges? How shall I purge this deed? How shall I excuse myself before the bishops, who now groan grievously because for thirty and innumerable years certain presbyters, having served in the grade, or ministers of the Church, are withdrawn from the sacred ministry and are deputed to the curia, gravely lamenting?955

Nam si qui vobis militant, certo militiae tempore servantur; quanto magis etiam eos considerare debetis, qui Deo militant! Quomodo, inquam, hoc excusabo apud episcopos, qui queruntur de clericis, et impressione gravi vastari scribunt ecclesias?

For if any serve you, they are reserved for a fixed time of military service; how much more ought you also to consider those who serve as soldiers for God! How, I say, shall I excuse this to the bishops, who complain about the clerics, and write that the churches are being devastated by heavy impressment?

30. Hoc tamen in notitiam clementiae tuae pervenire volui; de hoc, ut placet, arbitrio tuo consulere et temperare dignaberis: illud autem quod me angit, et jure angit, exclude atque ejice. Ipse facis, quidquid fieri jussisti: aut si ille facturus non est, malo te magis esse clementem, quam illum non fecisse, quod jussus est.

30. This, however, I wished to come to the notice of your clemency; concerning this, as it pleases, deign to consult and to temper by your discretion: but that which angers me, and rightly angers me, shut out and cast out. You yourself do whatever you have ordered to be done: or if that man is not going to do it, I prefer you to be rather clement, than that he should not have done what he was ordered.

31. Habes in quibus Domini adhuc debes circa imperium Romanum invitare et emereri clementiam; habes quibus amplius, quam tibi speres: illorum gratia, illorum salus te in hoc sermone conveniat. Timeo ne causam tuam alieno committas judicio. Integra adhuc tibi sunt omnia.

31. You have matters in which, in the Lord’s cause, you still ought, with respect to the Roman empire, to invite and to merit clemency; you have means for more than you yourself hope: let their favor, their salvation, meet you in this discourse. I fear lest you commit your cause to an alien judgment. Everything is still intact for you.

In hoc me ego Deo nostro pro te obligo, nec verearis sacramentum. Numquid Deo displicere poterit quod pro ejus emendatur honorificentia? Nihil mutaveris certe in illa epistola, sive missa, sive nondum missa est: dictari jube aliam, quae plena fidei, plena pietatis sit.

In this I myself bind myself to our God on your behalf, and do not fear the sacrament. Can that which is amended for His honorificence possibly displease God? Change nothing, to be sure, in that epistle, whether it has been sent or is not yet sent: order another to be dictated, one which shall be full of faith, full of piety.

Tibi integrum est emendare, mihi non est integrum dissimulare.

It is open to you to amend; it is not open to me to dissimulate.

32. Antiochenis tuam donasti injuriam, inimici tui filias revocasti, nutriendas apud affinem dedisti, matri hostis tui misisti de aerario tuo sumptus. Haec tanta pietas, tanta erga Deum fides hoc facto obfuscabitur. Tu igitur qui armatis pepercisti hostibus, et servasti inimicos tuos; ne, quaeso, tanto studio putes vindicandum in christianos.

32. To the Antiochenes you remitted your injury, you recalled your enemy’s daughters, you gave them to be reared with a kinsman by marriage, you sent to your enemy’s mother expenses from your own treasury. This so great piety, such faith toward God, will be overshadowed by this deed. You, therefore, who spared armed foes and preserved your enemies; do not, I pray, think that with such zeal vengeance must be taken upon Christians.

33. Nunc te, Imperator, rogo, ut non aspernanter acceperis me et pro te et pro me timentem; sancti enim vox est:Ut quid factus sum videre contritionem populi mei (I Mach. II, 7), ut offensam incurram Dei? Ego certe quod honorificentius fieri potuit, feci; ut me magis audires in regia, ne, si necesse esset, audires in Ecclesia.

33. Now I beg you, Emperor, that you not receive with disdain me, fearing both for you and for myself; for it is the voice of the holy one:Why have I been made to see the contrition of my people (1 Macc. 2, 7), that I should incur the offense of God? I for my part have done what could be done more honorably; that you might rather hear me in the palace, lest, if it were necessary, you might hear me in the Church.

EPISTOLA LI.

EPISTLE 51.

Adventum ejus non ingrato affectu se declinare, sed ne tacere cogeretur, aut offensionis causam praeberet. Iracundum esse Theodosium, sed ex se placabilem: ne igitur eum commoveret, valetudinem excusasse. Ingemuisse episcopos caedem Thessalonicensem, proinde in eluenda illa sanctorum imitandam poenitentiam, sine qua peccatum non tollitur.

That he is declining his arrival not with an ungrateful affect, but lest he be compelled to be silent or furnish a cause of offense. That Theodosius is irascible, yet in himself placable: therefore, lest he should commove him, he has excused himself on the score of health. That the bishops have groaned over the Thessalonican slaughter; accordingly, for the washing-away of that, the penitence of the saints is to be imitated, without which sin is not taken away.

Diabolum qui ei inviderit, vincendum. Non audere se, illo praesente, offerre sacrificium, a quo etiam divinitus fuerit deterritus: at ipsam poenitentiam sacrificium esse. Quod factum ejus non praeverterit, dolere se, quippe qui eum vere diligat.

The devil, who has envied him, is to be conquered. He does not dare, with him present, to offer the sacrifice, from which he has also been divinely deterred; but repentance itself is a sacrifice. That he did not pre-empt his deed, he grieves, inasmuch as he truly loves him.

Augustissimo imperatori THEODOSIO AMBROSIUS episcopus.

To the most august emperor THEODOSIUS, Ambrose, bishop.

1. Et veteris amicitiae dulcis mihi recordatio est, et beneficiorum, quae crebris meis intercessionibus summa gratia in alios contulisti, gratiae memini. Unde colligi potest quod non ingrato aliquo affectu adventum tuum semper mihi antehac exoptatissimum declinare potuerim. Sed qua causa hoc fecerim, breviter expediam.

1. And the sweet recollection of old friendship is mine, and I remember the grace of the benefits which, through my frequent intercessions, you have conferred upon others with the highest favor. Whence it can be gathered that it was not from any ungrateful disposition that I could have declined your coming, which had always heretofore been most ardently desired by me. But for what cause I did this, I will briefly unfold.

[0B]2. Soli mihi in tuo comitatu jus naturae ereptum videbam audiendi, ut et loquendi privarer munere; motus enim frequenter es quod ad me pervenissent aliqua, quae in consistorio tuo statuta forent. Ego ergo expers communis usus sum, cum dicat Dominus Jesusnihil esse occultum, quod non manifestetur (Luc. VIII, 17). Verecundia igitur, qua potui, satisfeci imperiali arbitrio; et prospexi ne aut ipse causam commotionis habeas, cum id egerim, ne quid ad me de imperialibus deferatur statutis: aut ego cum fuero praesens, aut non audiam per metum omnium, et quasi conniventis famam subibo: aut ita audiam, ut mihi aures pateant, vox intercludatur; ut audita non possim eloqui, ne eos qui in suspicionem proditionis venerint, laedam in periculo.

[0B]2. I saw that to me alone in your comitatus the right of nature of hearing had been snatched away, so that I was also deprived of the munus of speaking; for you have often been moved that certain things which had been decreed in your consistory had come to me. Therefore I am without the common use, though the Lord Jesus saysthere is nothing hidden that shall not be made manifest (Luke 8, 17). Out of modesty, then, as I could, I have satisfied the imperial arbitrium; and I have taken forethought lest either you yourself have a cause of commotion, since I have arranged that nothing be conveyed to me about imperial statutes: or, when I shall be present, I either do not hear, through the fear of all, and I shall incur the reputation of conniving; or I shall so hear that my ears lie open, my voice is shut off, so that I cannot speak out what I have heard, lest I harm, in peril, those who may have come into suspicion of treachery.

[0C]3. Quid igitur facerem? Non audirem? Sed aures non possem cera veterum fabularum claudere.

[0C]3. What therefore was I to do? Not hear? But I could not shut my ears with the wax of the ancient fables.

Proderem? Sed quod in tuis jussis timerem, in meis verbis deberem cavere; ne 998 quid cruentum committeretur. Tacerem?

Should I betray? But what I feared in your commands, I ought to beware of in my own words; lest 998 something bloody be committed. Should I be silent?

Sed quod miserrimum foret omnium, alligaretur conscientia, vox eriperetur. Et ubi illud? Sed si sacerdos non dixerit erranti, is qui erraverit, in sua culpa morietur, et sacerdos reus erit poenae, quia non admonuit errantem (Ezechiel III, 19)?

But what would be most miserable of all: the conscience would be bound, the voice would be snatched away. And where is that: But if the priest does not speak to the erring one, he who has erred will die in his own fault, and the priest will be guilty of punishment, because he did not admonish the erring (Ezekiel 3, 19)?

4. Accipe illud, imperator auguste. Quod habeas fidei studium, non possum negare; quod Dei timorem, non diffiteor: sed habes naturae impetum, quem si quis lenire velit, cito vertes ad misericordiam: si quis stimulet, in majus exsuscitas, ut eum revocare vix possis. Utinam si nemo mitigat, nullus accendat!

4. Receive this, august emperor. That you have zeal of faith, I cannot deny; that you have fear of God, I do not disavow: but you have an impulse of nature, which, if someone should wish to soften, you quickly turn toward mercy; if someone should stimulate, you rouse it to the greater, so that you can scarcely call it back. Would that, if no one mitigates, no one would inflame!

Libenter eum committo tibi: ipse te revocas, et pietatis studio vincis impetum naturae.

Willingly I commit him to you: you yourself recall yourself, and by zeal of piety you overcome the impulse of nature.

5. Hunc ego impetum malui cogitationibus tuis secreto committere, quam meis factis publice fortassis movere. Itaque malui officio meo aliquid deesse, quam humilitati: et requiri in me ab aliis sacerdotis auctoritatem, quam a te desiderari in me amantissime honorificentiam; ut represso impetu, integra esset consilii eligendi facultas. Praetendi aegritudinem corporis re vera gravem, et nisi a viris mitioribus vix levandam: vel emori tamen maluissem, quam adventum tuum biduo, aut triduo non exspectarem.

5. This impulse I preferred to commit to your cogitations in secret, rather than perhaps to move it publicly by my own deeds. And so I preferred that something be lacking to my office rather than to humility: and that by others the priest’s authority be required in me, rather than that by you, most lovingly, honorificence be desired in me; so that, the impulse repressed, the capacity of choosing counsel might be intact. I put forward a sickness of the body, in truth grave, and scarcely to be lightened except by gentler men: yet I would rather even die than not await your arrival for two days, or three.

Sed quid facerem, non erat.

But what was I to do? There was no way.

6. Factum est in urbe Thessalonicensium quod nulla memoria habet, quod revocare non potui, ne fieret; immo quod ante atrocissimum fore dixi, cum toties rogarem: et quod ipse sero revocando grave factum putasti, hoc factum extenuare non poteram. Quando primum auditum est, propter adventum Gallorum episcoporum Synodus convenerat; nemo non ingemuit, nullus mediocriter accepit: non erat facti tui absolutio in Ambrosii communione, in me etiam amplius commissi exaggeraretur invidia, si nemo diceret Dei nostri reconciliationem fore necessariam.

6. It was done in the city of the Thessalonians what no memory has, which I was not able to recall so that it might not be done; nay rather, what I had said beforehand would be most atrocious, when so many times I entreated: and that which you yourself, by recalling too late, judged to have been a grave deed, this deed I could not extenuate. When first it was heard, because of the arrival of the bishops of the Gauls a Synod had convened; everyone groaned, no one received it moderately: there was not the absolution of your deed in the communion of Ambrose, against me, too, the ill-will of an even greater offense would be aggravated, if no one were to say that reconciliation with our God would be necessary.

7. An pudet te, Imperator, hoc facere quod rex propheta, auctor Christi secundum carnem prosapiae fecit David? Illi dictum est, quia dives qui haberet plurimos greges, unam pauperis ovem propter adventum hospitis eripuit et occidit; et cognito quod in hoc ipse argueretur, quia ipse fecisset, ait:Peccavi Domino (II Reg. XII, 13). Noli ergo impatienter ferre, Imperator, si dicatur tibi: Tu fecisti istud, quod David regi dictum est a propheta.

7. Does it shame you, Imperator, to do what King David the prophet, the progenitor of Christ’s lineage according to the flesh, did? To him it was said that a rich man, who had very many flocks, seized and killed the one ewe of a poor man on account of the arrival of a guest; and when it was recognized that in this he himself was being accused, because he himself had done it, he said:I have sinned against the Lord (2 Kings 12, 13). Do not, therefore, bear it impatiently, Imperator, if it be said to you: You have done this, which was said to King David by the prophet.

Si enim hoc sedulo audieris, et dixeris: Peccavi Domino; si dixeris regale istud propheticum: Venite adoremus, 999 et procidamus ante eum; et ploremus ante Dominum nostrum, qui fecit nos (Psal. XCIV, 6); dicetur et tibi: Quoniam poenitet te, dimittit tibi Dominus peccatum tuum, et non morieris (II Reg. XII, 13).

For if you hear this sedulously, and say: I have sinned against the Lord; if you say this royal, prophetic [word]: Come, let us adore, 999 and let us fall down before him; and let us weep before our Lord, who made us (Psalm 94, 6); it will be said to you also: Since you repent, the Lord forgives your sin, and you will not die (2 Kings 12, 13).

8. Iterum cum plebem numerari jussisset David, percussus est corde, et dixit ad Dominum:Peccavi vehementer, quod fecerim hoc verbum, et nunc, Domine, aufer iniquitatem servi tui, quod deliqui vehementer (II Reg. XXIV, 10). Et missus est iterum ad eum Nathan propheta, qui ei trium optionem conditionum offerret, ut quam vellet, eligeret: famem tribus annis in terra, aut tribus mensibus fugere a facie inimicorum suorum, aut triduo mortem in terra. Et respondit David: Angustiae sunt tria haec vehementer; verumtamen incidam in manu Domini; quoniam multae misericordiae ejus nimis: et in manus hominis non incidam (Ibid., 14). Culpa autem erat, quoniam voluit scire numerum totius plebis, quae secum erat: quod scire Deo soli debuit reservare.

8. Again, when David had ordered the plebs to be numbered, he was stricken in heart, and said to the Lord:I have sinned vehemently, that I should have done this word; and now, Lord, remove the iniquity of your servant, for I have offended vehemently (2 Kings 24, 10). And again there was sent to him the prophet Nathan, to offer him the choice of three conditions, that he should choose whichever he wished: famine for three years in the land, or for three months to flee from the face of his enemies, or for three days death in the land. And David answered: These three things are a great strait; nevertheless, let me fall into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are very many: and into the hands of man let me not fall (Ibid., 14). The fault, moreover, was that he wished to know the number of the whole plebs that was with him: which to know he ought to have reserved to God alone.

9. Et cum, inquit, mors fieret in plebe, ipso primo die ad horam prandii cum vidisset David percutientem angelum in plebem, ait David:Ego peccavi, et ego pastor malignum feci, et hic grex quid fecit? Fiat manus tua in me, et in domum patris mei (Ibid., 17). Itaque poenituit Dominum, et jussit angelo ut parceret plebi, sacrificium autem offerret David; erant enim tunc sacrificia pro delictis, haec nunc sunt sacrificia poenitentiae. Itaque ea humilitate acceptior Deo factus est: non enim mirandum peccare hominem: sed illud reprehensibile, si non se cognoscat errasse, non humiliet Deo.

9. And when, he says, death was occurring among the people, on that very first day at the hour of the midday meal, when David had seen the angel striking among the people, David said:I have sinned, and I, the shepherd, have done evil, and what has this flock done? Let your hand be upon me, and upon my father’s house (Ibid., 17). And so it repented the Lord, and he ordered the angel to spare the people, but that David should offer a sacrifice; for there were then sacrifices for offenses, these now are sacrifices of penitence. And thus by that humility he was made more acceptable to God: for it is not a thing to be marveled at that a man sins; but that is reprehensible, if he does not recognize that he has erred, if he does not humble himself before God.

10. Job sanctus et ipse potens in saeculo, ait:Peccatum meum non abscondi, sed coram plebe omni annuntiavi (Job. XXXI, 33). Ipsi immani regi Saul dixit Jonathas filius suus: Noli peccare in servum tuum David (I Reg. XIX, 4): et: Ut quid peccas in sanguinem innocentem occidere David sine causa (Ibid., 5)? Quia etsi rex erat, peccabat tamen, si occideret innocentem.

10. Holy Job also, himself potent in the world, says:I did not hide my sin, but before all the people I announced it (Job 31, 33). To the monstrous king Saul his son Jonathan said: Do not sin against your servant David (1 Kings 19, 4): and: Why do you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without cause? (Ibid., 5). For although he was a king, nevertheless he was sinning, if he killed an innocent man.

Denique etiam David cum jam regno potiretur, et audisset Abner innocentem occisum a Joab duce militiae suae, ait: Innocens sum ego et regnum meum amodo et usque in aeternum a sanguine Abner filii Ner (II Reg. III, 28); et jejunavit in dolore.

Finally, even David, when he already was in possession of the kingdom, and had heard that Abner, an innocent man, had been slain by Joab, the commander of his army, said: I am innocent, I and my kingdom, from now and forever, of the blood of Abner son of Ner (2 Reg. 3, 28); and he fasted in sorrow.

11. Haec ideo scripsi, non ut te confundam, sed ut regum exempla provocent, ut tollas hoc peccatum de regno tuo: tolles autem humiliando Deo animam tuam. Homo es, et tibi venit tentatio, vince eam. Peccatum non tollitur nisi lacrymis et poenitentia.

11. I wrote these things for this reason, not to confound you, but that the examples of kings may provoke you to take away this sin from your kingdom: and you will take it away by humbling your soul to God. You are a man, and temptation comes to you; conquer it. Sin is not removed except by tears and penitence.

Nec angelus potest, nec archangelus; Dominus ipse, qui solus potest dicere: Ego vobiscum sum (Matth. XXVIII, 20); si peccaverimus, nisi poenitentiam deferentibus non relaxat.

Neither angel can, nor archangel; the Lord himself, who alone can say: I am with you (Matt. 28, 20); if we have sinned, he does not remit except to those who bring repentance.

12. Suadeo, rogo, hortor, admoneo; quia dolori est mihi, ut tu qui pietatis inauditae exemplum eras, qui apicem clementiae tenebas, qui singulos nocentes non patiebaris periclitari,1000 tot periisse non doleas innocentes. Etsi in praeliis felicissime egeris, etsi in aliis quoque laudabilis; tamen apex tuorum operum pietas semper fuit. Id tibi invidit diabolus, quod habebas praestantissimum.

12. I persuade, I ask, I exhort, I admonish; for it is grief to me that you, who were an example of unheard-of piety, who held the apex of clemency, who did not allow individual guilty men to be put in jeopardy, do not grieve that so many innocents—1000—have perished. Although you have acted most successfully in battles, although you are laudable in other things as well; nevertheless the apex of your works has always been piety. This the devil begrudged you, that which you possessed as most preeminent.

Vince eum, dum habes adhuc unde possis vincere. Noli peccato tuo aliud peccatum addere; ut usurpes, quod usurpasse multis officit.

Conquer him, while you still have the means whereby you can conquer. Do not add another sin to your sin; by usurping that which, when usurped, injures many.

13. Ego certe in omnibus aliis licet debitor pietati tuae, cui ingratus esse non possum, quam pietatem multis imperatoribus praeferebam, uni adaequabam: ego, inquam, causam in te contumaciae nullam habeo, sed habeo timoris: offerre non audeo sacrificium, si volueris assistere. An quod in unius innocentis sanguine non licet, in multorum licet? Non puto.

13. I indeed in all other things, though a debtor to your piety, to which I cannot be ungrateful, which piety I was preferring to many emperors, equating to one alone: I, I say, have no cause for contumacy toward you, but I have for fear: I do not dare to offer the sacrifice, if you should wish to be present. Or what is not permitted in the blood of one innocent, is it permitted in that of many? I do not think so.

14. Postremo scribo manu mea, quod solus legas. Ita me Dominus ab omnibus tribulationibus liberet; quia non ab homine, neque per hominem, sed aperte mihi interdictum adverti. Cum enim essem sollicitus, ipsa nocte qua proficisci parabam, venisse quidem visus es ad Ecclesiam; sed mihi sacrificium offerre non licuit.

14. Finally I write with my own hand, for you alone to read. So may the Lord free me from all tribulations; because I perceived that it was interdicted to me not by a man, nor through a man, but openly. For when I was anxious, on the very night on which I was preparing to depart, you indeed seemed to have come to the Church; but it was not permitted to me to offer the sacrifice.

Alia praetereo, ut potui cavere: sed pertuli amore tuo, ut arbitror. Dominus faciat ut omnia cum tranquillitate cedant. Multifarie Deus noster admonet, signis coelestibus, prophetarum praeceptis: visionibus etiam peccatorum vult nos intelligere; quo rogemus eum, ut perturbationes auferat, pacem vobis imperantibus servet, fides Ecclesiae et tranquillitas perseveret, cui prodest christianos et pios esse imperatores.

I pass over other things, as I was able to be wary; but I endured for your love, as I suppose. May the Lord bring it about that all things turn out with tranquility. In manifold ways our God admonishes—by celestial signs, by the precepts of the prophets; he even wishes us to understand by the visions of sinners—so that we may beseech him to remove perturbations, to preserve peace for you who are ruling, may the faith of the Church and tranquility persevere, to which it is advantageous that the emperors be Christian and pious.

15. Certe vis probari Deo. Omnis rei tempus, ut scriptum est:Tempus, inquit, faciendi, Domine (Eccles. III, 1); et: Tempus beneplaciti Deus (Psal.

15. Surely you wish to be approved by God. For everything there is a time, as it is written:Time, he says, for doing, O Lord (Eccles. 3, 1); and: Time of good-pleasure, O God (Psal.

CXVIII, 126). Tunc offeres, cum sacrificandi acceperis facultatem, quando hostia tua accepta sit Deo. Nonne me delectaret habere gratiam imperatoris, ut secundum voluntatem tuam agerem, si causa pateretur? Et simplex oratio sacrificium est: haec veniam refert, illa offensionem; quia haec habet humilitatem, illa contemptum: Dei enim vox est, quod malit ut fiat mandatum ejus, quam deferatur sacrificium.

118, 126). Then you will offer, when you have received the faculty for sacrificing, when your victim is acceptable to God. Would it not delight me to have the favor of the emperor, so that I might act according to your will, if the case permitted? And simple prayer is a sacrifice: this brings pardon, that offense; because this has humility, that contempt: for it is God’s voice that he prefers that his mandate be done rather than that a sacrifice be brought.

Clamat istud Deus, ad populum Moyses annuntiat, ad populos Paulus praedicat. Id facito quod intelligis in tempore plus facere. Misericordiam, inquit, malo quam sacrificium (Matth.

God cries this out, Moses announces it to the people, Paul preaches it to the peoples. Do that which you understand to be more timely to do. Mercy, he says, I prefer rather than sacrifice (Matth.

IX, 13). Quare non illi magis sint Christiani, qui peccatum condemnant suum, quam qui defendere putant? Justus enim in exordio sermonis accusator est sui (Prov. XVIII, 17). Qui se accusat cum peccaverit, justus est, non ille qui se laudaverit.

9, 13). Why should not those be more truly Christians who condemn their own sin, rather than those who think to defend it? For the righteous man is an accuser of himself at the beginning of speech (Prov. 18, 17). He who accuses himself when he has sinned is righteous, not he who has praised himself.

16. Utinam, Imperator, etiam ante mihi potius credidissem, quam consuetudini tuae. Cum puto quod cito ignoscis, cito revocas, ut saepe fecisti; et tu praeventus es, et ego non declinavi, quod cavere non debueram. Sed gratias Domino, qui vult servulos suos castigare, ne1001 perdat.

16. Would that, Emperor, I had even earlier trusted myself rather than your habit. Since I suppose that you quickly forgive, quickly recall, as you have often done; both you were forestalled, and I did not avoid what I ought not to have had to beware. But thanks be to the Lord, who wills to chastise his little servants, lest he1001 lose them.

Istud mihi commune est cum prophetis, et tibi erit commune cum sanctis.

This is common to me with the prophets, and it will be common to you with the saints.

17. An ego Gratiani patrem non oculis meis praeferam? Debent veniam sancta alia pignora tua. Dulce mihi nomen antetuli, quibus amorem communiter detuli.

17. Shall I not set before my eyes the father of Gratian? Your other holy pledges owe forgiveness. I have put forward a sweet name dear to me, toward whom I have borne love in common.

Amo, diligo, orationibus prosequor. Si credis, sequere; si, inquam, credis, agnosce quod dico: si non credis, ignosce quod facio, in quo Deum praefero. Beatissimus et florentissimus cum sanctis pignoribus fruaris tranquillitate perpetua, Imperator auguste.

I love, I cherish, I accompany with prayers. If you believe, follow; if, I say, you believe, acknowledge what I say: if you do not believe, forgive what I do, in which I put God first. May you, most blessed and most flourishing, with holy pledges, enjoy perpetual tranquility, august Emperor.

1002 EPISTOLA LIII.

1002 EPISTLE 53.

Causam silentii sui aperiens, VALENTINIANI obitum maxime propter summam ejus in Deum pietatem atque in se benevolentiam luget. Deinde nuntiato ad ejusdem sepulturam sibi praesto esse marmor, ut ea sororum illius causa maturetur, suadet.

Opening the cause of his silence, VALENTINIANI he mourns the death, especially on account of his highest piety toward God and his benevolence toward himself. Then, with it announced that marble is at hand for his sepulture, he urges that this matter be hastened for the sake of his sisters.

AMBROSIUS THEODOSIO imperatori.

AMBROSE TO THEODOSIUS the emperor.

1. Silentium meum rupit sermo clementiae tuae; nihil enim in tam tristibus rebus melius facere in animum induxeram, quam si fieri posset, me ipsum abdere. Sed quia in secessu aliquo delitescere et sacerdotio exire non poteram, vel silentio intra me latebam.

1. My silence was broken by the discourse of your clemency; for in such sad affairs I had brought into my mind to do nothing better than, if it could be done, to hide myself away. But since I could not lie concealed in some retreat nor withdraw from the priesthood, I was, at least by silence, hidden within myself.

2. Doleo enim, fateor, dolore acerbo, non solum quod immatura aetate Valentinianus augustus decesserit, sed etiam quod informatus fide, ac tuis institutis tantam devotionem erga Deum nostrum induerat, atque tanto in me incubuerat affectu, ut quem ante persequebatur, nunc diligeret: quem ante ut adversarium repellebat, nunc ut parentem putaret. Quod ego non pro recordatione injuriae veteris exprompsi, sed pro testimonio conversionis. Illud enim alienum, hoc suum, quod a te infusum sibi ita tenuit, ut matris persuasionem excluderet.

2. For I grieve, I confess, with bitter grief, not only because Valentinian Augustus has departed at a premature age, but also because, informed in the faith and by your precepts, he had assumed such devotion toward our God, and had settled upon me with such affection, that him whom before he persecuted, now he loved; him whom before he repelled as an adversary, now he considered as a parent. This I have not brought forth for a recollection of an old injury, but as a testimony of conversion. For that was alien, this his own, which, poured into him by you, he so held as to exclude his mother’s persuasion.

Ille se a me nutritum praeferebat; ille ut sedulum patrem desiderabat, ille simulato a quibusdam adventus mei nuntio, impatienter praestolabatur. Quin etiam illis ipsis publici doloris diebus, cum sanctos et summos sacerdotes Domini intra Gallias haberet; ut a me tamen sacramentis baptismatis initiaretur, scribendum arbitratus est: quod etsi non rationabiliter, amabiliter tamen erga me suum studium testificatus est.

He put himself forward as having been nurtured by me; he desired me as a diligent father; upon a report of my arrival contrived by certain persons, he awaited me impatiently. Nay even in those very days of public grief, although he had holy and most eminent priests of the Lord within Gaul, yet, in order that he might be initiated by me with the sacraments of baptism, he judged that a letter should be written; which, although not rationally, yet lovingly bore witness to his zeal toward me.

3. Hunc ergo non intimo anhelem spiritu, secretisque mentis atque animi visceribus amplectar? Hunc mihi mortuum putem? Immo mihi magis mortuum.

3. Shall I not, then, embrace this one with my inmost panting spirit, and with the secret viscera of mind and soul? Should I think him dead to me? Nay, to me all the more dead.

Quas ego Domino deferebam gratias, quod ita in me conversus esset, quod ita emendatus, quasi senioris cujusdam aetatis mores induisset: quas clementiae tuae, quod eum non solum regno reddidisses; sed etiam, quod est amplius, instituisses fidei et pietatis tuae disciplinis? Hunc ergo non doleam, aevi integrum, antequam sacramentorum quae 1003 desideravit, adipisceretur gratiam, repentina obisse morte? Refrigerasti animum, quod etiam ipse dignatus es ferre testimonium meo dolori.

What thanks was I offering to the Lord, that he had so turned toward me, that, so corrected, he had as if put on the manners of a certain elder age: what thanks to your clemency, that you had not only restored him to the kingdom, but also, what is more, had trained him in the disciplines of your faith and piety? Should I then not mourn him, in the full integrity of his age, to have met a sudden death before he could obtain the grace of the sacraments which 1003 he desired? You have refreshed my spirit, in that you yourself deigned also to bear testimony to my grief.

Te, Imperator, arbitrum teneo affectus mei, te meae mentis interpretem.

You, Emperor, I hold as the arbiter of my affection, you as the interpreter of my mind.

4. Sed flendi tempora alias non deerunt: nunc de sepultura ejus, quoniam scripsit clementia tua ita hic procurandam. Si exsors recessit baptismatis, quid cognoverim, nunc repressi. Est hic porphyreticum labrum pulcherrimum, et in usus hujusmodi aptissimum; nam et Maximianus Diocletiani socius ita humatus est.

4. But times for weeping will not be lacking at other times: now about his sepulture, since your clemency has written that it is to be procured thus here. If he departed exsors of baptism, what I have learned I have now suppressed. There is here a most beautiful porphyry basin, and most apt for uses of this kind; for even Maximianus, the associate of Diocletian, was inhumed thus.

Sunt tabulae porphyreticae pretiosissimae, quibus vestiatur operculum, quo regales exuviae claudantur.

There are most precious porphyry slabs, with which the lid may be clothed, whereby the royal remains may be enclosed.

5. Hoc fuerat praeparatum, sed exspectabatur rescriptum clementiae tuae: cujus perceptione recreatae sunt sanctae filiae tuae, filii tui Valentiniani sorores, quae se gravibus afficiunt modis; et amplius exagitabantur, quod diu nihil scriberetur sibi. Unde iis non parum accessit solatii, sed dum inhumatae sunt reliquiae, nequaquam sibi parcunt; videntur enim sibi germani sui quotidianum funus tenere. Et re vera cum sine fletu magno ac sine dolore gravi numquam sint; tamen quotiescumque eo accedunt, exsangues revertuntur.

5. This had been prepared, but the rescript of your Clemency was awaited: upon the reception of which your holy daughters, the sisters of your son Valentinian, were refreshed, who afflict themselves in grievous ways; and they were harried the more, because for a long time nothing was written to them. Whence not a little of solace accrued to them; but while the relics are uninhumed, they by no means spare themselves; for they seem to themselves to hold their brother’s daily funeral. And in very truth, since they are never without great weeping and without grievous pain; nevertheless, whenever they approach there, they return bloodless.

Et ipsis igitur consuletur, et charissimis exuviis, si acceleretur sepultura, ne aestivo penitus solvantur calore; vix enim superiorem aestatem transegimus.

And therefore let provision be made both for them themselves and for the most dear remains, if sepulture be accelerated, lest they be utterly dissolved by the estival heat; for we have scarcely passed the former summer.

6. Mandatum tuum servo et commendo Domino. Diligat te Dominus, quia tu Domini servos diligis.

6. I keep your mandate and commend it to the Lord. May the Lord love you, because you love the Lord’s servants.

1010 EPISTOLA LVII.

1010 LETTER 57.

EUGENIO cur eum Mediolani non exspectaverit, explicat: deinde iis quae sub Valentiniano et Theodosio relationis Symmachi occasione facta fuerant, recensitis, eumdem tyrannum quod sumptus idolorum templis concedendo, nec Dei timorem, nec aliorum de se existimationem ante oculos habuerit, libere arguit; oppositoque ipsius praevaricationi Hebraeorum exemplo, hanc ait fuisse causam cur ad eum non rescripserit; se tamen in posterum libertate, quam apud alios principes adhibuerit, cum eodem usurum.

EUGENIUS he explains why he did not wait for him at Milan: then, after recounting those things which had been done under Valentinian and Theodosius on the occasion of Symmachus’s relatio, he freely reproves that same tyrant because, by conceding expenses to the temples of idols, he had before his eyes neither the fear of God nor the estimation of others concerning himself; and, with the example of the Hebrews set in opposition to his prevarication, he says that this was the reason why he did not write back to him; yet that in the future he will use with him the same freedom which he has employed with other princes.

Clementissimo imperatori EUGENIO AMBROSIUS episcopus.

To the most clement emperor EUGENIUS, AMBROSE the bishop.

1. Secessionis mihi causa timor Domini fuit, ad quem omnes actus meos, quantum queo, dirigere, neque umquam ab eo mentem deflectere, nec pluris facere cujusvis hominis, quam Christi gratiam consuevi. Nemini enim facio injuriam, si omnibus Deum praefero; et confidens in ipso, non vereor vobis imperatoribus dicere, quae pro meo captu sentio. Itaque quod apud alios imperatores non tacui, nec apud te, clementissime Imperator, tacebo.

1. The cause of my secession was the fear of the Lord, toward whom I direct all my acts, as far as I am able, and I never turn my mind away from him, nor have I been wont to value the grace of Christ less than that of any man. For I do injury to no one, if I prefer God to all; and, trusting in him, I do not fear to say to you emperors what I think according to my capacity. Therefore, what I have not kept silent about before other emperors, neither will I keep silent about before you, Most Clement Emperor.

Atque ut ordinem rerum custodiam, strictim recensebo, quae ad hoc spectant negotium.

And so that I may preserve the order of things, I will briefly recount those things which pertain to this business.

2. Retulerat vir amplissimus Symmachus, cum esset praefectus Urbis, ad Valentinianum augustae memoriae imperatorem juniorem, ut templis, quae sublata fuerant, reddi juberet. Functus est ille partibus suis pro studio et cultu suo. Utique etiam ego episcopus partes meas debui recognoscere.

2. The most distinguished man Symmachus, when he was Prefect of the City, had referred to Valentinian the younger emperor of august memory, that he should order the temples, which had been removed, to be restored. He fulfilled his part in accordance with his zeal and his cult. Assuredly I also, as bishop, ought to recognize my part.

Dedi libellos imperatoribus duos, quibus significarem sumptus sacrificiorum christianum virum non posse reddere: et non fuisse quidem me auctorem, cum tollerentur; auctorem tamen fieri, quominus decernerentur: deinde quia dare eos ipse simulacris videretur, non reddere. Quod enim ipse non abstulerat, non quasi ipse reddebat: sed arbitratu proprio largiebatur ad superstitionis impensas. Postremo si fecisset, aut non veniret ad Ecclesiam, aut si veniret, futurum ut aut sacerdotem non inveniret, aut inveniret sibi in Ecclesia resistentem.

I submitted two petitions to the emperors, in which I indicated that a Christian man cannot render the expenses of sacrifices: and that I had indeed not been the author when they were removed; yet I would become the author that they not be decreed: then because he himself would seem to be giving them to the idols (simulacra), not restoring them. For what he himself had not taken away, he was not, as it were, giving back; but by his own arbitration he was bestowing largess toward the expenses of superstition. Finally, if he should do it, either he would not come to the Church, or, if he came, it would come about that either he would not find a priest, or he would find one in the Church resisting him.

Nec ad excusationem obtendi posse, quod esset catechumenus; cum non liceat etiam catechumenis sumptus idolis subministrare.

Nor could it be put forward as an excuse that he was a catechumen; since it is not permitted even for catechumens to supply expenses to idols.

3. Lecti sunt libelli mei in consistorio, aderat amplissimus honore magisterii militaris Bauto comes, et Rumoridus, et ipse ejusdem dignitatis gentilium nationum cultui inserviens a primis pueritiae suae annis. Valentinianus tunc temporis audivit suggestionem meam, nec fecit aliud, nisi quod fidei nostrae ratio poscebat. Acquieverunt etiam comiti suo.

3. My little books were read in the consistory; present was Bauto, Count, most distinguished by the honor of the military mastership, and Rumoridus, himself also of the same dignity, serving the cult of the gentile nations from the earliest years of his boyhood. Valentinian at that time heard my suggestion, nor did he do anything other than what the rationale of our faith demanded. They too acquiesced to their count.

10114. Postea etiam clementissimo imperatori Theodosio coram intimavi, atque in os dicere non dubitavi, cui intimata senatus legatione hujusmodi, licet non totus senatus poposcerit, insinuationi meae tandem assensionem detulit, et sic aliquibus ad ipsum non accessi diebus, nec moleste tulit; quia non pro meis commodis faciebam, sed quod et ipsi, et animae meae proderat, in conspectu regis loqui non confundebar (Psal. CXVIII, 46).

10114. Afterwards I also intimated it in person to the most clement Emperor Theodosius, and I did not hesitate to say it to his face; to whom, the senate’s embassy of such a kind having been intimated—although not the whole senate had demanded it—he at length gave assent to my insinuation; and thus for some days I did not approach him, nor did he take it ill; because I was not acting for my own advantages, but for what was profitable both to him and to my soul, I was not confounded to speak in the sight of a king (Ps. 118, 46).

5. Iterum Valentiniano augustae memoriae principi, legatio a senatu missa intra Gallias, nihil extorquere potuit: et certe aberam, nec aliquid tunc ad eum scripseram.

5. Again, to Valentinian, a prince of august memory, a legation sent by the senate within Gaul could extort nothing: and certainly I was absent, nor had I then written anything to him.

6. Sed ubi clementia tua imperii suscepit gubernacula, compertum est postea donata illa esse praecellentibus in republica, sed gentilis observantiae viris; et fortasse dicatur, Imperator auguste, qui ipse non templis reddideris, sed bene meritis de te donaveris. Verum nosti pro Dei timore agendum esse constanter, quod etiam pro libertate frequenter fit non solum a sacerdotibus; sed etiam ab his qui vobis militant, aut in numero habentur provincialium. Te imperante, petierunt legati, ut templis redderes, non fecisti: iterum alteri postulaverunt, renisus es; et postea ipsis, qui petierunt, donandum putasti.

6. But when your clemency took up the helm of the empire, it was discovered afterwards that those things had been granted to men preeminent in the commonwealth, but men of gentile observance; and perhaps it may be said, august Emperor, that you yourself did not restore them to the temples, but bestowed them, as a favor from you, upon those well deserving of you. In truth you know that for the fear of God one must act steadfastly, which also for liberty is frequently done not only by priests; but also by those who serve under you in arms, or are counted among the provincials. Under your rule, the envoys asked that you restore them to the temples—you did not do it: again others demanded it—you resisted; and afterwards you judged that it should be granted to those very persons who had asked.

7. Etsi imperatoria potestas magna sit, tamen considera, Imperator, quantus sit Deus: corda omnium videt, conscientiam interiorem interrogat, novit omnia, antequam fiant, novit interna pectoris tui (Act. I, 24; Dan. XIII, 42). Ipsi falli vos non patimini, et Deum vultis celare quidquam?

7. Even if imperial power be great, nevertheless consider, Emperor, how great God is: he sees the hearts of all, he interrogates the inner conscience, he knows all things before they come to be, he knows the inner things of your breast (Acts 1, 24; Dan. 13, 42). You yourselves do not suffer yourselves to be deceived, and do you wish to conceal anything from God?

Hoc non cecidit in animum tuum? Quamvis enim illi agebant tam perseveranter, nonne tuum fuit, Imperator, pro Dei summi et veri et vivi veneratione perseverantius obsistere, et negare, quod erat in injuria sacrae legis?

Did this not come into your mind? For although indeed they were acting so perseveringly, was it not your part, Emperor, for the veneration of the Most High and true and living God, to withstand more perseveringly, and to deny that which was to the injury of the sacred law?

8. Quis invidet, quoniam quae voluisti, aliis donavisti? Non sumus scrutatores vestrae liberalitatis, nec aliorum commodorum invidi; sed sumus interpretes fidei. Quomodo offeres dona tua Christo?

8. Who envies, since the things you wished you have granted to others? We are not scrutinizers of your liberality, nor envious of others’ advantages; but we are interpreters of the faith. How will you offer your gifts to Christ?

Pauci aestimabunt quid feceris; omnes, quid volueris: quidquid illi fecerint, tuum erit: quidquid non fecerint, suum. Etsi es imperator, Deo subditus magis esse debes. Quomodo sacerdotes Christi tua munera dispensabunt?

Few will esteem what you have done; all, what you have willed: whatever they shall have done will be yours; whatever they shall not have done will be their own. Even if you are emperor, you ought to be more subject to God. How will the priests of Christ dispense your gifts?

9. Fuit hujusmodi quaestio temporibus superioribus; et tamen fidei patrum ipsa cessit persecutio, et gentilitas detulit. Nam (II Mach. IV, 18 et seq.) cum ageretur agon quinquennalis in civitate Tyro, et ad spectandum venisset Antochiae rex sceleratissimus, Jason ordinavit sacrorum procuratores, ut ab Hierosolymis Antiochenses ferrent1012 didrachmas argenti trecentas, et illas darent ad sacrificium Herculis: verum patres non gentilibus dederunt pecunias, sed viris fidelibus missis, protestarunt non erogari ad deorum sacrificium, quia non congruebat, sed in alios sumptus dari.

9. There was a question of this kind in earlier times; and yet the persecution itself yielded to the faith of the fathers, and the Gentile religion deferred. For (2 Macc. 4, 18 and following), when a quinquennial agōn was being held in the city Tyre, and the most wicked king had come from Antioch to spectate, Jason appointed procurators of the sacred rites, that from Jerusalem Antiochenes should carry1012 three hundred silver didrachmas, and give them for the sacrifice of Hercules: but the fathers did not give the monies to the Gentiles; rather, faithful men having been sent, they protested that it not be disbursed for the sacrifice of the gods, because it was not congruent, but be given to other expenses.

Et pronuntiatum est, quia ille ad sacrificium Herculis missum dixerat argentum, suscipi quidem debere in id, quod erat missum: sed quia illi, qui detulerant, resistebant pro studio et cultu suo; ut non sacrificio proficerent, sed aliis necessitatibus, traditae sunt pecuniae ad constructionem navium: etsi coacti miserunt, non tamen ad sacrificium, sed ad alios sumptus reipublicae.

And it was pronounced that, because he had said the silver sent was for the sacrifice of Hercules, it ought indeed to be accepted for that for which it had been sent; but because those who had brought it resisted on behalf of their zeal and cult, so that they might not further the sacrifice but other necessities, the moneys were delivered for the construction of ships: and although they sent it under compulsion, yet not to the sacrifice, but to other expenses of the commonwealth.

10. Denique qui attulerant, utique potuissent tacere: sed laedebant fidem, quia sciebant quo deferrentur; et ideo miserunt viros timentes Deum, qui agerent, ut non templo, sed ad impensas navium, quae missa fuerant, deputarentur. Ipsis enim crediderunt pecunias, qui causas agerent sanctae legis: judex rerum effectus fuit, qui absolvit conscientiam. Si positi in aliena potestate, sic praecavebant, quid te oportuerit facere, o Imperator, dubitari non potest.

10. Finally, those who had brought it certainly could have kept silent; but they would have injured the faith, because they knew to what it was being delivered; and therefore they sent men fearing God to act so that it might be assigned not to the temple, but to the expenses of the ships, for which things had been sent. For they entrusted the monies to those very men, to prosecute the causes of the holy law: there was constituted a judge of the matters, who absolved the conscience. If, placed under another’s power, they thus took precautions, it cannot be doubted what you ought to have done, O Emperor.

Tu utique quem nemo cogebat, nemo habebat in potestate, debuisti ab sacerdote consulere.

You indeed, whom no one was compelling, whom no one held in power, ought to have consulted the priest.

11. Ego certe quando tunc restiti, etsi solus restiti, tamen non solus volui, nec solus id suasi. Quoniam igitur meis vocibus et apud Deum et apud omnes homines teneor; aliud mihi non licere intellexi, aliud non oportere, nisi ut consulerem mihi; quia non potui tibi credere modeste. Certe diu pressi, diu texi dolorem, nulli quidquam intimandum putavi; dissimulare mihi nunc non licet, tacere liberum non fuit.

11. I for certain, when then I resisted, although I resisted alone, yet I did not wish to be alone, nor did I alone counsel it. Since therefore by my own words I am held both before God and before all men; I understood that one thing was not permitted to me, another not proper, except that I should take counsel for myself; because I could not modestly trust you. Surely I long suppressed, I long veiled the grief, I thought nothing ought to be intimated to anyone; to dissimulate is not permitted to me now, to be silent was not free for me.

Ideo etiam in primordiis imperii tui scribenti non rescripsi, quia istud praevidebam futurum. Denique reposcenti litteras, cum ipse non rescriberem, dixi: Haec causa est, quod extorquendum ei arbitror.

Therefore, even in the beginnings of your imperial rule, when you were writing, I did not write back, because I foresaw that this would come to pass. Finally, when you were demanding the letters back, since I myself was not writing back, I said: This is the reason why I think it must be extorted from him.

12. Tamen ubi causa emersit officii mei, pro his qui sollicitudinem sui gerebant, et scripsi et rogavi; ut ostenderem in causis Dei timorem mihi justum inesse, nec pluris me facere adulationem, quam animam meam: in his vero, in quibus vos rogari decet, etiam me exhibere sedulitatem potestati debitam, sicut et scriptum est:Cui honorem, honorem: cui tributum, tributum (Rom. XIII, 7). Nam cum privato detulerim corde intimo, quomodo non deferrem imperatori? Sed qui vobis deferri vultis, patimini ut deferamus ei, quem imperii vestri vultis auctorem probari.

12. Nevertheless, when the cause of my office emerged, on behalf of those who were bearing solicitude for themselves, I both wrote and entreated; that I might show that in the causes of God there is in me a just fear, and that I do not value adulation more highly than my soul: but in those matters, in which it befits that you be petitioned, that I also exhibit the sedulity owed to authority, as it is also written:To whom honor, honor; to whom tribute, tribute (Rom. 13, 7). For since I have deferred to a private person with my inmost heart, how should I not defer to the emperor? But you who wish that deference be shown to yourselves, allow that we defer to Him whom you wish to be approved as the author of your empire.

EPISTOLA LXI.

LETTER 61.

Cur Mediolano secesserit, ac mature eodem redierit, declarato, gratiisque Deo propter opem THEODOSIO praestitam actis, voluntati ejusdem principis obsecuturum se pollicetur. Cujus pietatem summe commendans, ut clementia utatur petit.

Having declared why he had withdrawn from Milan and had promptly returned thither, and, thanks having been given to God on account of the aid afforded to THEODOSIUS , he promises that he will comply with the will of that same emperor. Highly commending his piety, he asks that he make use of clemency.

AMBROSIUS THEODOSIO imperatori.

AMBROSE TO THEODOSIUS the emperor.

1. Arbitratus es, beatissime imperator, quantum ex augustis litteris tuis comperi, me longe abesse ab urbe Mediolanensium; quia res tuas crederem a Deo destitui. Sed non ego ita imprudens, aut virtutis et meritorum tuorum immemor abfui, ut non praesumerem coeleste auxilium pietati tuae adfore, quo Romanum imperium a barbari latronis immanitate et ab usurpatoris indigni solio vindicares.

1. You supposed, most blessed emperor, so far as I gathered from your august letters, that I was far away from the city of the Milanese; because you believed that I thought your affairs to be forsaken by God. But I was not so imprudent, nor so forgetful of your virtue and merits, as not to presume that heavenly aid would be present to your piety, whereby you would vindicate the Roman empire from the savagery of the barbarian robber and from the throne of the unworthy usurper.

2. Festinavi igitur illico reverti, posteaquam illum, quem jure declinandum putaveram, jam abesse cognovi; non enim ego Ecclesiam Mediolanensem dereliqueram Domini judicio mihi commissam: sed ejus vitabam praesentiam, qui se sacrilegio miscuisset. Redii itaque circiter kalendas Augustas, ex illo die hic resedi. Hic me, Auguste, clementiae tuae apices repererunt.

2. I therefore hastened at once to return, after I learned that he, whom I had thought ought rightly to be shunned, was now away; for I had not abandoned the Church of Milan, entrusted to me by the judgment of the Lord: but I was avoiding the presence of him who had involved himself in sacrilege. I returned, accordingly, about the Kalends of August, from that day I have remained here. Here, Augustus, the missives of your clemency found me.

3. Gratias Domino Deo nostro, qui fidei tuae pietatique respondit; et formam veteris restituit sanctitatis; ut videremus nostro tempore, quod in Scripturarum lectione miramur, tantam in praeliis divini auxilii fuisse praesentiam, ut nulli vertices montium adventus tui cursum retardarent, non hostilia arma impedimentum aliquod afferrent.

3. Thanks to the Lord our God, who has answered your faith and piety; and has restored the form of ancient sanctity; so that we might see in our time that which we marvel at in the reading of the Scriptures, that so great a presence of divine aid was in battles, that no summits of the mountains retarded the course of your arrival, nor did hostile arms bring any impediment.

10214. Pro his gratias me censes agere oportere Domino Deo nostro: faciam libenter conscius meriti tui. Certum est placitam Deo esse hostiam, quae vestro offertur nomine, et hoc quantae devotionis et fidei est! Alii imperatores in exordio victoriae arcus triumphales parari jubent, aut alia insignia triumphorum: clementia tua hostiam Deo parat, oblationem et gratiarum actionem per sacerdotes celebrari Domino desiderat.

10214. For these things you think that I ought to give thanks to the Lord our God: I will do so gladly, conscious of your merit. It is certain that the victim which is offered in your name is pleasing to God—and how great a thing of devotion and faith this is! Other emperors, at the beginning of a victory, order triumphal arches to be prepared, or other insignia of triumphs: your clemency prepares a victim to God, desires that an oblation and an act of thanksgiving be celebrated to the Lord through the priests.

5. Etsi ego indignus atque impar tanto muneri et tantorum votorum celebritati; tamen quid fecerim scribo. Epistolam pietatis tuae mecum ad altare detuli, ipsam altari imposui, ipsam gestavi manu, cum offerrem sacrificium; ut fides tua in mea voce loqueretur, et apices Augusti sacerdotalis oblationis munere fungerentur.

5. Although I am unworthy and unequal to so great a charge and to the celebration of such great vows; nevertheless I write what I did. I brought with me to the altar the letter of your piety, I placed it upon the altar itself, I carried it in my hand, when I was offering the sacrifice; so that your faith might speak in my voice, and that the apices of the Augustus might discharge the function of the sacerdotal oblation.

6. Vere Dominus propitius est imperio Romano; quandoquidem talem principem et parentem principum elegit, cujus virtus et potestas in tanto imperii constituta culmine triumphali, tanta sit humilitate subnixa, ut virtute imperatores, humilitate vicerit sacerdotes. Quid exoptem? quidve desiderem?

6. Truly the Lord is propitious to the Roman empire; since indeed he has chosen such a prince and parent of princes, whose virtue and power, established on so triumphal a summit of the empire, are supported by so great humility, that by virtue he has outdone emperors, by humility he has overcome priests. What should I wish? or what should I desire?

Omnia habes: ex tuis itaque summam votorum capessam, pius es, Imperator, clementiam habes maximam.

You have all things: therefore from your own may I attain the consummation of prayers; you are pious, Emperor, you have the greatest clemency.

7. Opto tamen tibi etiam atque etiam incrementa pietatis, qua nihil Dominus praestantius dedit; ut per tuam clementiam Ecclesia Dei sicut innocentium pace et tranquillitate gratulatur, ita etiam reorum absolutione laetetur. Ignosce maxime his, qui non ante peccarunt. Dominus clementiam tuam conservet, Amen.

7. Yet I wish for you again and again increments of piety, than which the Lord has given nothing more preeminent; that through your clemency the Church of God, just as it rejoices in the peace and tranquility of the innocent, so also may it rejoice at the absolution of the guilty. Forgive especially those who have not sinned before. May the Lord preserve your clemency, Amen.

EPISTOLA LXII.

LETTER 62.

Quod pridem ad THEODOSIUM non scripserit, excusat; seque ad eum mittere diaconum significans, ut ipsius preces pro quibusdam in Ecclesiae asylum receptis admittat petit.

That he had not written to THEODOSIUS earlier, he excuses; and, indicating that he is sending a deacon to him, he asks that he admit his prayers on behalf of certain persons received into the Church’s asylum.

AMBROSIO THEODOSIO imperatori.

AMBROSE TO THEODOSIUS the emperor.

1. Quamvis proxime scripserim augustae clementiae tuae etiam secundo, mihi tamen non satis fuit velut pari vice sermonis officium reddidisse; cum beneficiis clementiae tuae tam frequentibus oppigneratus sim, ut nullis officiis possim compensare quae debeo, beatissime atque augustissime Imperator.

1. Although most recently I have written to your august clemency even a second time, yet it did not suffice for me as if to have repaid, in an equal turn, the duty of discourse; since by the so frequent benefactions of your clemency I am pledged, so that by no services can I compensate what I owe, most blessed and most august Emperor.

2. Itaque ut prima occasio non praetermittenda fuit, qua per cubicularium tuum clementiae tuae gratias agerem, et alloquii mei officium1022 repraesentarem; maximoe ne desidiae putaretur fuisse potius quam necessitatis, quod tempore superiore non scripserim. Itaque requirenda mihi causa fuit, qua pietati tuae deferrem debitum salutationis obsequium.

2. And so, since the first occasion was not to be passed over, on which through your chamberlain I might give thanks to your clemency, and present the duty of my address1022; especially lest it be thought to have been from idleness rather than from necessity that I did not write at the earlier time. And so a cause had to be sought by me, by which I might render to your piety the due observance of salutation.

3. Merito autem ad praeferendam epistolam meam filium meum Felicem diaconum misi, simul ut mei vicem officii repraesentaret, memoratum quoque pro his qui ad matrem pietatis tuae Ecclesiam, petentes misericordiam, confugerunt; quorum lacrymas sustinere non potui, quin adventum clementiae tuae meis obsecrationibus praevenirem.

3. Deservedly, moreover, I sent my son Felix the deacon to bring forward my letter, at the same time that he might represent in my stead the duty of an address, and also to make mention on behalf of those who, seeking mercy, have fled for refuge to the mother, the Church of your piety; whose tears I could not endure, without anticipating the arrival of your clemency with my supplications.

4. Grande est quod petimus, sed ab eo cui Dominus inaudita et admiranda concessit, ab eo cujus clementiam novimus, et obsidem pietatem tenemus. Unde plus exspectare nos confitemur; quoniam ut te virtute vicisti, ita etiam tua te vincere debes pietate. Victoria enim tua antiquo more vetustisque miraculis, qualis sancto Moysi, et sancto Jesu Nave, et Samueli, atque David, non humana aestimatione, sed coelestis gratiae effusione tibi collata censetur: hic pietatem aequalem poscimus, cujus merito tanta victoria ipsa quaesita est.

4. It is a great thing that we ask, but from him to whom the Lord has granted unheard-of and admirable things, from him whose clemency we know, and whose piety we hold as a pledge. Whence we confess that we expect more; since as you conquered by virtue, so also you ought to conquer yourself by your own piety. For your victory, in ancient fashion and with time-worn miracles—such as to Saint Moses, and Saint Jesus Nave, and Samuel, and David—is reckoned to have been bestowed upon you, not by human estimation, but by the outpouring of heavenly grace: here we ask for equal piety, by whose merit so great a victory itself was procured.

1010 EPISTOLA LVII.

1010 EPISTLE 57.

TO EUGENIUS he explains why he did not wait for him at Milan; then, after recounting those things which under Valentinian and Theodosius had been done on the occasion of Symmachus’s relatio, he freely arraigns that same tyrant, because by granting expenses to the temples of idols he had had before his eyes neither the fear of God nor the estimation of others concerning himself; and, his prevarication being confronted with the example of the Hebrews, he says this was the cause why he did not write back to him; yet that in the future he will use with the same man the liberty which he had employed with other princes.

Clementissimo imperatori EUGENIO AMBROSIUS episcopus.

To the most clement emperor EUGENIUS, AMBROSE the bishop.

1. The cause of my secession was the fear of the Lord, to whom I direct all my acts, as far as I can, and I never deflect my mind from Him, nor have I been accustomed to value any man’s favor more than the grace of Christ. For I do an injury to no one if I prefer God to all; and, confiding in Him, I do not fear to say to you emperors what, according to my capacity, I think. Therefore, what I did not keep silent before other emperors, neither with you, most clement Emperor, will I keep silent.

Atque ut ordinem rerum custodiam, strictim recensebo, quae ad hoc spectant negotium.

And so, that I may preserve the order of things, I will summarily review what pertains to this business.

2. The most distinguished man Symmachus, when he was Prefect of the City, had reported to Valentinian, the younger emperor of august memory, that he should order the temples, which had been removed, to be restored. He fulfilled his parts in accordance with his zeal and his cult. Assuredly I too, as bishop, ought to recognize my parts.

I gave to the emperors two libelli, in which I indicated that a Christian man cannot render the expenses of sacrifices: and that I had not indeed been the author when they were taken away; yet to become an author to the effect that they not be decreed: then, because he himself would seem to give them to the images, not to restore them. For what he himself had not taken away, he was not, as it were, restoring; but by his own arbitrament he was bestowing toward the expenses of superstition. Lastly, if he had done it, either he would not come to the Church, or, if he came, it would come about that either he would not find a priest, or he would find one resisting him in the Church.

Nec ad excusationem obtendi posse, quod esset catechumenus; cum non liceat etiam catechumenis sumptus idolis subministrare.

Nor can it be put forward for an excuse that he was a catechumen; since it is not permitted even for catechumens to supply expenses to idols.

3. My booklets were read in the consistory; present was Bauto, a count, most distinguished with the honor of the magisterial military command, and Rumoridus, he too of the same dignity, serving the cult of the gentile nations from the first years of his boyhood. Valentinian at that time listened to my suggestion, and did nothing other than what the rationale of our faith demanded. They too acquiesced to their count.

10114. Afterwards also I made it known in person to the most clement Emperor Theodosius, and I did not hesitate to speak to his face; to whom, after a senatorial legation of this kind had been intimated, although not the whole senate had demanded it, he at length gave assent to my intimation, and thus for some days I did not approach him, nor did he take it amiss; because I was not acting for my own advantages, but what was profitable both to him and to my soul, I was not confounded to speak in the sight of the king (Ps. 118, 46).

5. Iterum Valentiniano augustae memoriae principi, legatio a senatu missa intra Gallias, nihil extorquere potuit: et certe aberam, nec aliquid tunc ad eum scripseram.

5. Again, to Emperor Valentinian of august memory, a legation sent by the senate within the Gauls was able to extort nothing; and certainly I was absent, nor had I at that time written anything to him.

6. But when your clemency took up the helm of the empire, it was afterwards ascertained that those things were donated to men preeminent in the republic, yet to men of gentile observance; and perhaps it may be said, august Emperor, that you yourself did not restore them to the temples, but have bestowed them, as a benefaction from yourself, upon those who had well deserved of you. Yet you know that one must act steadfastly for the fear of God, which is also frequently done for liberty not only by priests, but also by those who serve in your militia, or are reckoned in the number of the provincials. With you commanding, the legates asked that you restore them to the temples—you did not do it: again others requested it—you resisted; and afterwards you thought it should be given as a donation to those very persons who asked.

7. Although the imperial power is great, yet consider, Emperor, how great God is: he sees the hearts of all, interrogates the inner conscience, knows all things before they come to be, knows the inner things of your breast (Acts 1, 24; Dan. 13, 42). You yourselves do not allow yourselves to be deceived, and do you wish to conceal anything from God?

Did this not occur to your mind? For although they were acting so perseveringly, was it not your part, Emperor, for the veneration of God Most High and true and living, to resist more perseveringly, and to refuse what was an injury to the sacred law?

8. Quis invidet, quoniam quae voluisti, aliis donavisti? Non sumus scrutatores vestrae liberalitatis, nec aliorum commodorum invidi; sed sumus interpretes fidei. Quomodo offeres dona tua Christo?

8. Who envies, since the things you wished, you have given to others? We are not scrutinizers of your liberality, nor begrudgers of others’ commodities; but we are interpreters of the faith. How will you offer your gifts to Christ?

Few will esteem what you have done; all, what you have willed: whatever they do will be yours; whatever they do not do, theirs. Even if you are emperor, you ought to be more subject to God. How will the priests of Christ dispense your gifts?

9. There was a question of this sort in earlier times; and yet the persecution itself yielded to the faith of the fathers, and Gentilism deferred. For (2 Macc. 4, 18 and following) when a quinquennial agôn was being held in the city of Tyre, and the most wicked king of Antioch had come to spectate, Jason appointed procurators of the sacred rites, that the Antiochenes should carry from Jerusalem1012 three hundred silver didrachmas, and give them for the sacrifice of Hercules: but the fathers did not give the monies to the Gentiles, but, faithful men having been sent, they protested that it was not to be expended for the sacrifice of the gods, because it was not fitting, but to be given for other expenses.

And it was pronounced that, because he had declared the silver had been sent for the sacrifice of Hercules, it ought indeed to be received for that for which it had been sent; but since those who had brought it were resisting on behalf of their zeal and cult, so that it might not profit the sacrifice but other necessities, the monies were handed over for the construction of ships: and although, being coerced, they sent it, yet not for the sacrifice, but for other expenditures of the republic.

10. Finally, those who had brought it could certainly have kept silent; but they were wounding the faith, because they knew to what it would be conveyed; and therefore they sent men fearing God, to act so that it be assigned not to the temple, but to the expenses of the ships, for which it had been sent. For they entrusted the monies to those who would plead the causes of the holy law: a judge of the matter thus came into being, who absolved the conscience. If, though placed under another’s power, they took such precautions, what it would have behooved you to do, O Emperor, cannot be doubted.

Tu utique quem nemo cogebat, nemo habebat in potestate, debuisti ab sacerdote consulere.

You indeed, whom no one was compelling, whom no one had in power, ought to have consulted the priest.

11. I certainly, when I then resisted, although I resisted alone, yet did not wish to be alone, nor did I alone advise it. Since therefore by my words I am held both before God and before all men; I understood that nothing else was permitted to me, nothing else was fitting, except that I should take counsel for myself; because I could not modestly trust you. Surely I long repressed, I long veiled my grief, I thought that nothing should be intimated to anyone; to dissemble is not permitted me now, to be silent was not free to me.

Therefore, even at the beginnings of your reign, I did not write back to your letter, because I foresaw this would come to pass. Finally, when you were demanding letters, since I myself was not writing back, I said: This is the reason, that I judge it must be wrung from him.

12. Nevertheless, when the cause of my office emerged, on behalf of those who were bearing solicitude for their own, I both wrote and petitioned; in order to show that, in the causes of God, there is in me a just fear, and that I do not esteem adulation more than my own soul: but in those matters in which it befits that you be asked, that I also exhibit to authority the diligence that is owed, just as it is written:To whom honor, honor: to whom tribute, tribute (Rom. 13, 7). For since as a private person I have shown deference with my inmost heart, how should I not defer to the emperor? But you who wish deference to be paid to yourselves, allow that we defer to him whom you wish to be approved as the author of your empire.