Appendix to Letter VI: Edict of King Theodoric to the Roman Senate (11 March 507)
Edict of King Theodoric to the Roman Senate, given at Ravenna on 11 March 507, providing civil ratification of the synodal decree of Pope Symmachus’s Fifth Roman Synod (6 November 502) on the inalienability of Church property. To the conqueror of the world, the leader and restorer of liberty — to the Senate of the […]
Appendix to Letter V: Acts Pertaining to the Roman Synods II, III, and IV in the Cause of Symmachus
Editor’s note: This Appendix gathers four separate documents from the procedural sequence of the 501 Roman synods that produced the Synodus Palmaris (Letter V). Thiel collected them as supplementary acts because they illuminate the framework within which that synod’s absolution of Pope Symmachus took place. The most substantively important is the bishops’ Relatio (document III), […]
Letter V, Fourth Roman Synod (Synodus Palmaris) of 23 October 501
Translator’s note: The Latin of this synodal document is, even by Thiel’s standards, unusually compressed and difficult — particularly in sections 7 through 9, where the original passes through long periodic constructions and dense ablative absolutes. Readers consulting the document for technical theological or canonical purposes should compare it against the Latin in Thiel’s edition […]
Letter CXLVIII, from Pope Leo to Emperor Leo
Leo, bishop of Rome, to Leo, ever Augustus. Chapter I: Leo Gives Thanks for the Emperor’s Defense of Chalcedon, Learned Through the Report of Anatolius Although I have recently directed two letters to your clemency — one of which was to fulfill the duty of greeting, the other to make supplication on behalf of the […]
Letter CXLVI, from Pope Leo to Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople
Leo to Anatolius, bishop. Chapter I: Anatolius Has Reported the Alexandrian Crisis; The Emperor Has Acted Promptly of His Own Accord It is clear enough from the letter of your brotherhood which We have received what pious and commendable care you have lately devoted to the grief of all the Churches — making known to […]
Letter CXLV, from Pope Leo to Emperor Leo
Leo, bishop of Rome, to Leo, ever Augustus. Chapter I: Leo Reports the Crisis in Alexandria and Urges That Chalcedon’s Definitions Not Be Reopened Having discharged the duties that belong to the congratulation of Your Imperial Majesty, I have added this page of necessary supplication as well, by which I seek the protection of your […]
Letter CXXX, from Pope Leo to Emperor Marcian
Leo, bishop, to Marcian Augustus. Chapter I: Leo Thanks Marcian for His Testimony in Favor of Proterius and Congratulates Proterius’s Faith Profession The purity of the Christian faith, shining in your clemency, is demonstrated also in these letters brought by our brother and fellow bishop Nestorius — favoring with justice my brother Proterius, the prelate […]
Letter CXXVI, from Pope Leo to Emperor Marcian
Leo, bishop, to Marcian Augustus. Leo Thanks Marcian for the Restoration of Juvenal and the Pacification of Palestine, and Urges His Continued Zeal for the Universal Church Gladdened by the double words of your clemency, I respond with due thanksgiving — rejoicing in the mercy of God, who placed glorious protection in the virtues of […]
Letter CXV, from Pope Leo to Emperor Marcian
Leo, bishop, to Marcian Augustus. Chapter I: Leo Thanks Marcian, Explains Why a New Letter Was Necessary, and Names Anatolius’s Deliberate Concealment Your clemency’s letters give me much cause for joy — as I experience, through the great mercy of divine providence, that you deign to aid ecclesiastical peace with most pious zeal, glorious Augustus: […]
Letter CX, from Emperor Marcian to Pope Leo
Victors Valentinianus and Marcianus, glorious triumphators, ever Augusti, to the most holy and truly venerable Leo, Archbishop. Marcian Reports Doubt About Leo’s Confirmation of Chalcedon and Requests a Definitive Public Statement We earnestly pray with the serenity of our words that Your Beatitude prospers, requesting that you impart the favor of your prayers’ intercession for […]
Letter C, from Emperor Marcian to Pope Leo
Victors Valentinianus and Marcianus, renowned triumphators, ever Augusti, to the holy father and deservedly venerable Bishop Leo. Chapter I: Marcian Celebrates the Victory of the Faith at Chalcedon Divine and human writings agree that the Divinity must above all be venerated, and that Almighty God is propitious where religion is rightly honored. We found therefore […]
Letter XC, from Pope Leo to Emperor Marcian
Leo, bishop, to Marcian, ever Augustus. Chapter I: Leo Consents to the Council; Ephesus II Cannot Be Called a Council; Marcian Has Annulled It I had requested your most glorious clemency to postpone the synod — which both you and we deemed necessary for restoring the Eastern Church’s peace — to a more opportune time, […]
Letter LXXXII, from Pope Leo to Emperor Marcian
Leo, bishop, to Marcian, ever Augustus. Chapter I: Thanksgiving for the Catholic Faith and the Peace of the Empire; Leo’s Confidence in Marcian’s Governance How many things there are for which we must give thanks to our God — whose mercy it is that you, most glorious emperor, govern human affairs with such wise providence […]
Letter LXXVII, from Empress Pulcheria to Archbishop Leo
To Leo, most reverend bishop of the Church of the glorious city of Rome — Pulcheria, most venerable Augusta. Anatolius Has Subscribed to the Tome; A Synod to Be Held with Leo as the Authority; Flavian Buried in the Basilica of the Apostles; Exiled Bishops Recalled [Editorial note:] Sacred letters were sent by Pulcheria of […]
Letter LXXVI, from Emperor Marcian to Archbishop Leo
To Leo, most reverend bishop of the Church of the most glorious city of Rome — Marcian. Marcian Receives Leo’s Legates; Invites Leo to Convene a Synod or Designate Its Location; The Council Will Follow Leo’s Defined Rules On the tenth day before the Kalends of December, at Constantinople, in the seventh consulship of our […]
Letter LXXIII, from Emperors Valentinian and Marcian to Archbishop Leo
Valentinian and Marcian, glorious victors and triumphators, ever Augusti — to Leo, most reverend archbishop of the glorious city of Rome. Valentinian and Marcian Announce Their Accession and Request Leo’s Leadership for a Synod to Ensure Catholic Peace We have come to this supreme empire by God’s providence and the election of the most excellent […]
Letter LXIV, from Emperor Theodosius to Empress Licinia Eudoxia
To my lady Eudoxia, venerable Augusta — Theodosius. Theodosius Affirms Leo Has Been Fully Informed; Flavian Received His Due; All Peace Now Reigns in the Churches We are always delighted by the letters of your desire and embrace them with all the sweetness of our soul, and we are accustomed to grant all your petitions […]
Letter LXIII, from Emperor Theodosius to Empress Galla Placidia
To my lady Galla Placidia, venerable Augusta — Theodosius. Theodosius Defends the Ephesine Council; Nothing Has Been Defined Beyond the Paternal Faith; Flavian Was Rightly Expelled From your clemency’s letters our eternity has learned what the most reverend patriarch Leo requested of your eternity. By these letters, accordingly, we indicate that what was said by […]
Letter LXII, from Emperor Theodosius to Emperor Valentinian
To my lord Valentinian Augustus — Theodosius. Theodosius Affirms the Council of Ephesus Was Rightly Convened and Properly Conducted; Flavian Received His Due; Peace Now Reigns in the Churches That your meekness arrived in Rome and the petition presented by the most reverend patriarch Leo — these have been indicated in the very text of […]
Letter LVIII, from Empress Galla Placidia to Empress Pulcheria
Galla Placidia, most pious, ever Augusta — to Aelia Pulcheria, most pious, ever Augusta and daughter. The Faith Has Been Disturbed by One Man’s Will; Galla Placidia Urges Pulcheria to Move Theodosius to Command an Italian Council Knowing that to come to Rome frequently for the sight of this ancient city is for you as […]
