Leo, bishop, to Julian, Bishop of Cos.
Chapter I: Leo Confirms Sending the Formal Consent to All Chalcedonian Bishops, and Directs Julian to Press the Emperor for Broader Circulation
Your letters’ text shows how vigilantly and devotedly your brotherhood strives for the Catholic faith — greatly relieving my solicitude with their instruction. The most religious emperor’s piety — clearly prepared by the Lord to strengthen the universal Church — assists this work, as Christian princes act with holy zeal for the faith and the Lord’s bishops confidently pray for their realm. Therefore, I gladly fulfilled the most clement emperor’s necessary request, sending letters to all our brothers present at the Chalcedon synod — showing them my approval of the rule of their faith. This was needed for those who, to veil their own perfidy, wish the decrees of that council to appear weak or doubtful without the support of my agreement.
After my legates returned, I had indeed sent letters to the bishop of Constantinople — which, if he had published them, would have shown abundantly my joy at approving the faith definitions of the synod. But since they also contained a rebuke of his ambition, he chose to suppress my sentiments rather than make known what I had written for the inviolable authority of the Nicene canons. Let your charity frequently urge the most pious prince to command that the writings of the Apostolic See be sent to the bishops of each province — so that no enemy of truth may take refuge in the excuse of my silence.
Chapter II: Leo Rejoices at the Imperial Sanctions Against the Rebellious Monks
I express great joy at the Christian emperor’s edict — making clear what the madness of certain ignorant monks deserves — and at the most pious Augusta’s response rebuking the leaders of monasteries. I know that this ardor of faith is divinely inspired, revealing that their excellence shows not only in royal authority but in priestly sanctity as well. I have sought, now and before, that your brotherhood have the greater confidence with them — trusting that their benevolence will readily receive the suggestions that are necessary.
Chapter III: Marcian’s Secret Mandate to Admonish Eudocia
The most clement emperor deigned to mandate secretly — through our son Paulus — that I admonish our daughter the most clement Augusta Eudocia. I complied with his wish — so that she might recognize how fruitful it would be to favor the Catholic faith — and obtained an admonition to her through her son and through the letters of the most clement prince. I do not doubt that she will piously strive to cause the authors of sedition to acknowledge the purpose of their profession, fearing the vindicating power if they reject the preaching of their teachers. I desire that your letters promptly inform me of the outcome of this effort and whether the rebel ignorance finally rests. If they deem our doctrine doubtful, let them not reject the writings of the blessed Athanasius, Theophilus, and Cyril of Alexandria — with which our form of faith accords so fully that one who professes agreement with them differs from us in nothing.
Chapter IV: Patience Over Aetius’s Demotion, for Now
We share the sorrow of our son Aetius the presbyter — and since a man judged worthy of reprobation has been installed in his office, this change undoubtedly causes harm to Catholics. Yet these things must be patiently endured for the present, lest, by meddling in the governance of other churches, one appear to exceed the measure of moderation. For the present it suffices that he is fortified by the favor of the most clement princes, to whom I have recently commended him — confident that their most religious minds will increase his grace.
Chapter V: Anatolius — Unreformed — Is Now Soliciting Subscriptions From the Bishops of Illyricum
I also wish you to know that Bishop Anatolius, after the correction applied to him, persists with such presumptuous temerity that — as reported by the bishop sent as messenger of Thessalonica’s ordination — he is soliciting subscriptions from the bishops of Illyricum.
I chose not to write to him — though you thought it necessary — since I see that he refuses correction. I have sent two letters to the synod: one with copies of my letter to Anatolius, another without. I leave it to your judgment to deliver to the most clement prince whichever of the two you deem appropriate, retaining the other.
Dated the twelfth day before the Kalends of April, in the consulship of Opilio, most illustrious man.
Footnotes
- ↩ This is Leo’s account of Letter CXIV, sent the same day as this letter (March 21, 453). The phrase necessarium postulatum — “necessary request” — is Leo’s description of what Marcian had asked for in Letter CX. Leo frames his compliance as willing and glad, but names the request as the occasion: the emperor’s need, not Leo’s own initiative, prompted the formal public act. The authority to issue such a confirmation is Leo’s; the occasion for exercising it was the emperor’s request and the Eutychians’ exploitation of Leo’s silence.
- ↩ Eudocia (c. 401–460) was the widow of Emperor Theodosius II and the mother-in-law of Valentinian III. She had been living in Jerusalem since 443, drawn to the holy places, and had become — whether actively or passively — a patron of the Eutychian monks who were causing the disturbances in Palestine described in Letter CIX. Marcian’s “secret” mandate to Leo to admonish her reflects the political sensitivity of the situation: Eudocia was of the previous imperial house, and her open criticism might be destabilizing. Leo’s admonition through her son (the prince referenced) was a more discreet route.
- ↩ This sentence is the one genuine concessive statement in Leo’s post-Chalcedon correspondence toward Anatolius’s jurisdiction. Leo acknowledges that intervening in Constantinople’s internal affairs beyond a certain point could be perceived as exceeding appropriate limits. This is not an abandonment of the administrative directives of Letters CXI and CXII — it is a practical judgment about timing. The situation will be resolved; for now, Aetius’s protection through the imperial court’s favor is sufficient. The contrast between this momentary patience and the decisive action requested in CXI and CXII is itself evidence of Leo’s careful calibration of when to press and when to wait.
- ↩ Illyricum — the vast ecclesiastical province governed by the Vicariate of Thessalonica, covering the western Balkans and northern Greece, established under Rome’s oversight since the letters of Damasus and Siricius (Letters V and VI in the Leo corpus). By soliciting subscriptions from the Illyrian bishops, Anatolius is attempting to build a numerically impressive coalition in favor of Canon 28 — precisely the weight-of-numbers strategy Leo had rejected in Letter CVI: “Let no synodal councils flatter themselves by the multiplication of their gathering.” The fact that he is targeting Illyricum — Rome’s own vicariate — is a direct challenge to the Apostolic See’s established jurisdiction in that region. The PL apparatus notes that this was reported by the bishop sent by Thessalonica, confirming that Rome’s vicariate apparatus in Illyricum was functioning as an intelligence channel for exactly this kind of information.
- ↩ March 21, 453 — the fourth letter of the March 21 dispatch, alongside Letters CXIV (to the assembled bishops), CXV (to Marcian), and CXVI (to Pulcheria). CXVII is the briefing letter to Leo’s Eastern agent, completing the coordination of all channels simultaneously. The fact that Leo is managing the press strategy for his own letters — sending Julian two versions and leaving the choice of which to deliver to Julian’s judgment — shows how precisely the post-Chalcedon correspondence was calibrated.
Historical Commentary