Letter XXIV, from Ennodius of Pavia to Pope Symmachus
Ennodius to Symmachus. He Who Recommends Pilgrims to the Father of All Does Not Ask in Vain He does not ask ineffectively, who recommends pilgrims to the Father of all. A general assertion is owed to the noble, especially among those who bestow benefits even on the unasked. If Your Crown shall worthily receive the […]
Letter XXIII, from Ennodius of Pavia to Pope Symmachus
Ennodius to Symmachus. The Sole Path Is the Consolation of Your Apostolate, Which Heals the Foreign He provides a necessary thing, who recommends pilgrims and orphans to the Father of all. The sole path is the consolation of Your Apostolate, which heals the foreign. Far be it for me to say that the afflicted have […]
Letter XXII, from Ennodius of Pavia to Pope Symmachus
Ennodius to Pope Symmachus. Chapter I: While the Apostolic See Is Moderated by the Care of Symmachus’s Crown and the Summit of the Heavenly Empire Is Governed; Ennodius Recalls His Past Services While the Apostolic See is moderated by the care of Your Crown, and the summit of the heavenly empire is governed [by you], […]
Letter XXI, from Ennodius of Pavia to Pope Symmachus
Ennodius to Pope Symmachus. Ennodius Commends the Sons of Laurentius the Sublime: Paternal Solicitude Strives Beyond What Personal Merit Provides Although the probity of the sublime man Laurentius stands by him for the recommendation of [his children, those] pledges, and his paternal prudence pursues the cause of his offspring, nevertheless with parental solicitude he advances […]
Letter XX, from Ennodius of Pavia to Pope Symmachus
Ennodius to Pope Symmachus. Ennodius Gives Thanks for His Apostolic Promotion and Recalls Symmachus’s Promise on Behalf of Marius’s Heirs You have promoted me to the point of boldness by Your apostolic regard: the confidence granted has become the mother of audacity. But let him who thinks me ignorant of humility test me as obedient […]
Letter XIX, from Ennodius of Pavia to Pope Symmachus
Ennodius to the Lord Pope. The Ever-Watchful Care of the Apostolic See Attends to the Obedient as Though Face-to-Face; The Bishop’s Letters Will Reveal His Judgment on the Directed Legation The ever-watchful care of Your Beatitude attends to those who are obedient — as though they were placed face-to-face — wherever they are situated, and […]
Letter XVIII, from Ennodius of Pavia to Pope Symmachus
Ennodius to the Pope. Heavenly Providence Arranges the Usefulness of Those Who Follow; The Adversaries of the Apostolic See Have Learned by Whose Championing They Are Conquered The heavenly care arranges the usefulness of those who follow [it]: with good auspices, gifts are bestowed on those who deserve well of God. The supernal dispensation furnishes […]
Letter XVII, from King Sigismund of the Burgundians to Pope Symmachus
To Pope Symmachus. Chapter I: Sigismund Acknowledges the Sacred Relics Received Through the Deacon Julianus and Requests the Patronage of the Saints from the Apostolic Fountain While You enriched our Gaul with the spiritual reward of sacred pledges of relics through me, I do not presume to deny the petitioners; therefore it is necessary that […]
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 VI, from Pope Anastasius II to the Bishops of Gaul
To the most beloved brothers, all the bishops established throughout Gaul, Anastasius pope. Chapter I: The Communion of Catholic Bishops; The Heresy Reported by Aeonius of Arles 1. Good and pleasant is the Davidic word: For brethren to dwell together in unity (Ps. 132:1). For although spaces of lands separate us in distance, yet by […]
Letter V, Libellus from the Alexandrian Apocrisiarii to the Roman Legation
To the most glorious and most excellent patrician Festus, and to the venerable bishops Cresconius and Germanus, sent from the city of Rome together with his power in legation to the most clement and Christ-loving Emperor Anastasius — Dioscorus presbyter of the venerable church of Alexandria, and Chaeremon lector, serving as the apocrisiarii of the […]
Letter III, from Pope Anastasius II to Laurentius, Bishop of Lychnidos
Anastasius, bishop, to Laurentius of Lychnidos. Chapter I: The Eastern Reception of Felix III’s Letter on Acacius; The Roman Custom of Sending the Formula of Faith 1. In the lengthy letter of your charity you have filled Us with great joy in the part where you say that, when the letter of Our predecessor concerning […]
Letter I, from Pope Anastasius II to the Emperor Anastasius I
Bishop Anastasius to the Most Glorious and Most Clement Son Anastasius Augustus. Exordium: The See of the Most Blessed Peter Holds in the Universal Church the Primacy Assigned to It by the Lord God At the beginning of my pontificate I bear, as my first announcement, the peace offered to the peoples. I therefore come […]
Letter CLXXIII, from Pope Leo to Certain Bishops of Egypt
Leo, bishop, to Theophilus, John, Athanasius, Abraham, Daniel, Paphnutius, Musaeus, Panulvius, and Peter, bishops of Egypt. Chapter I: Leo Rejoices With the Egyptian Bishops Over the Expulsion of Aelurus and the Election of a Worthy Successor From the letters of your brotherhood, which our sons Daniel the presbyter and Timotheus the deacon delivered, I rejoice […]
Letter CLXXII, from Pope Leo to the Presbyters and Deacons of the Alexandrian Church
Leo, bishop, to the presbyters and deacons of the Alexandrian Church, his most dear sons in the Lord, greeting. Chapter I: Leo Rejoices in the Love Between the New Bishop and His Clergy, and Urges Unity I rejoice and exult in the Lord over the most devout spirit among you — for as your writings […]
Letter CLXXI, from Pope Leo to Timothy, Catholic Bishop of Alexandria
Leo, bishop, to Timothy, Catholic bishop of the Church of Alexandria. Chapter I: Leo Congratulates Timothy on His Election and Urges Him to Reconcile the Strayed With Gentleness It is clearly apparent under the splendor of the apostolic sentence that for those who love God, all things cooperate toward the good (Rom. 8:28); and by […]
Letter CLXX, from Pope Leo to Gennadius, Bishop of Constantinople
Leo, bishop, to Gennadius, bishop of Constantinople. Chapter I: Leo Complains of Aelurus’s Presence at Constantinople and Directs That He Be Denied All Contact From the letters of your charity, and from the account of our brother co-bishops Domitianus and Germinianus, I have learned that Timothy — after being expelled from the city of the […]
Letter CLXIX, from Pope Leo to Emperor Leo
Leo, bishop, to Leo, Augustus. Chapter I: Leo Rejoices Over the Expulsion of Aelurus and Urges That a Worthy Catholic Bishop Be Elected Without Delay If we wished to pursue the honor of your glory’s proposal in the defense of the faith with praise as great as the magnitude of the events themselves demands, we […]
