Leo, bishop, to Julian, Bishop of Cos.
Chapter I: Carosus Corrected in Faith but Still in Discord With Anatolius; Joannes Sent to Egypt — Report the Outcomes
Through our son Gerentium I have received the letters of your brotherhood — in which, with your customary devotion, you report what you rightly judge to pertain to Our care for the cause of the faith: namely, that Carosus has indeed been corrected in his faith-confession, but that he persists in some animosity against our brother Anatolius — and that on account of this discord he still withdraws from communion. And that Joannes, a distinguished man laudable for his sincerity of faith, has been directed to Egypt for the cause of the faith: when he first returns, let me know how much he has profited for peace and improvement — which I have no doubt you will do even without my prompting.
Chapter II: Deep Sorrow at the Accusations Against the Bishop of Antioch; Trust in Imperial Justice — Report the Outcome
As for the situation of the bishop of Antioch, I am grieved to the depths of my soul — if, God forbid, what the accusers bring forward against him is true. But beyond the sacerdotal diligence, the benefit of which I have no doubt, my greatest confidence is placed in the justice and benevolence of the most glorious prince — since I am certain that provision will be made, to the extent possible, that no falsehood can prevail on either side. But when this case has reached its conclusion, at an opportune moment you will deign to inform me.
Dated the fifth day before the Ides of March, in the consulship of the Augustus Valentinianus for the eighth time.
Footnotes
- ↩ Carosus — the monk whose suppression Leo had asked Marcian to arrange in Letter CXXXVI, Chapter IV, as being “excessively ignorant and excessively perverse” and overturning many hearts at Constantinople. The apparatus note (f) confirms this is the same Carosus who, corrected in his faith-confession, was then exiled along with Dorotheos for Eutychianism, as recounted in the epistle sequence. His correction in the faith-confession is progress; but his continuing discord with Anatolius — and Anatolius’s consequent refusal of communion — is a further complication Leo must monitor.
- ↩ The bishop of Antioch at this time was Maximus, installed at the Council of Chalcedon (451) at which the previous bishop Domnus had been quietly set aside. Maximus had been present at the council and subscribed to its definitions. The “some crime” (*criminis alicujus*) of the synopsis is deliberately vague in Leo’s letter — Leo does not name the accusation, expressing sorrow that it may be true while trusting the imperial and sacerdotal processes to determine the outcome. The PL apparatus note (i) on this passage does not specify the nature of the accusation.
- ↩ March 11, 455 — the eighth consulship of Valentinian III. This is approximately three months after Letter CXL (December 6, 454), confirming that Leo and Julian maintained near-monthly correspondence through this period. The letter’s three concurrent monitoring threads — Carosus at Constantinople, Joannes’s mission to Egypt, the Antioch accusation — show the breadth of the Apostolic See’s solicitude operating simultaneously across the three apostolic sees of the East and the imperial capital.
Historical Commentary