The See of Peter

The Early Church and Peter's Primacy

Letter LVII, from Empress Licinia Eudoxia to Emperor Theodosius

Synopsis: Licinia Eudoxia writes to Emperor Theodosius to declare that she considers it irreligious to fail to maintain the proper order of sacred things when present in Rome, and to recount how Leo the most blessed bishop of the Roman city — having briefly detained her after prayer at the confessors’ shrines — brought her to tears for the Catholic faith with the manifestly right force of his sacred preaching, and to urge Theodosius to command an Italian council that will restore the faith that has been disturbed.

To the lord Theodosius, renowned, ever Augustus and father — Licinia Eudoxia, most pious and perpetual Augusta and daughter.

Licinia Eudoxia’s Visit to Rome; Leo’s Preaching Moves Her to Tears; She Urges an Italian Council

That We desire to come frequently to Rome is for Us a matter of the love of religion — in order that We might exhibit Our presence at the shrines of the saints, who it is certain are established in heavenly places by their own virtue and do not disdain those below. We therefore consider it irreligious to forgo the customary order of sacred duties. When therefore We had given Our devotion to the most blessed Apostle Peter, the aforesaid most blessed bishop of the city — having briefly detained Us after prayer at the confessors’ shrines, set out with manifestly right words concerning the Catholic faith before Our eyes — moved Us all with the force and truth of his sacred preaching, so that We could not restrain Our tears, nor could any of those present — to whom the majesty of such holy truth was speaking — hold back. Since therefore the evidence of the faith is present, and We have been moved by what we have heard from the most blessed bishop of this holy city concerning the disturbance of the Catholic religion, We beg and beseech Your Clemency that you deign to command an episcopal council within Italy: by which, quickly and with God helping, all the scandals that have been set in motion against the perturbation of the whole Church may be resolved, so that with the Catholic faith preserved throughout your whole empire we may rejoice that Christian peace endures.

Source/Reference

PL 54:861

Notes / Historical Commentary

Letter LVII is the briefest of the four imperial letters produced during the late-449 visit to Rome — a single paragraph from Licinia Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian III, to her father-in-law Theodosius. Its brevity should not obscure its significance within the coordinated imperial effort. Licinia Eudoxia’s voice adds a fourth member of the imperial family to the chorus: mother (Galla Placidia, Letters LVI and LVIII), son (Valentinian III, Letter LV), and daughter-in-law all united in pressing the same demand upon the Eastern emperor.

The letter provides a third first-person account of the encounter with Leo at Rome’s apostolic shrines. Taken together, Letters LV, LVI, and LVII constitute a remarkable composite portrait of Leo in action: gathering the Italian bishops around him at Peter’s altar (LVI), weeping for the Catholic faith in the empress’s presence (LVI), detaining the imperial women after prayer to address them with the force and truth of his preaching (LVII). The convergence of independent accounts confirms that the late-449 Rome visit was a deliberate occasion — Leo using the apostolic shrines and the authority of his place to rally the Western imperial house behind his appeal for an Italian council.

Licinia Eudoxia’s closing request — that an episcopal council be held within Italy so that “with the Catholic faith preserved throughout your whole empire we may rejoice that Christian peace endures” — is almost identical in phrasing to Leo’s own request in Letter LIV (to Theodosius, December 25, 449). The parallel wording is not coincidental: Leo had clearly communicated the terms of his appeal to the imperial family, and they were pressing it in their own voices with his language. The coordination between the Roman bishop and the Western imperial court in late 449 is one of the most remarkable episodes of church-state collaboration in the fifth century.