The See of Peter

The Early Church and Peter's Primacy

Letter LVI, from Empress Galla Placidia to Emperor Theodosius

Synopsis: Galla Placidia writes to Emperor Theodosius to recount how she and Valentinian, upon coming to Rome and going to venerate blessed Peter, found Leo the most blessed bishop of the Roman city at the very altar invoking the chief of the Apostles as witness, surrounded by the multitude of bishops he had gathered throughout Italy by the authority of his place, weeping for the Catholic faith — an encounter that drew her to tears as well — and to urge Theodosius to command a council within Italy where, in accordance with the form and definition of the Apostolic See which she also venerates as preeminent, Flavian may remain in the status of the priesthood and all matters be transmitted for the Apostolic See’s judgment.

To the lord Theodosius, victorious and triumphant, ever Augustus and son — Galla Placidia, most pious and flourishing, ever Augusta and mother.

Leo at Peter’s Altar, Weeping for the Faith, Surrounded by Bishops He Has Gathered Throughout Italy

When upon entering the ancient city We had given Our veneration to the most blessed Apostle Peter, in that very place of adoration at the martyr’s altar, the most reverend Leo, bishop [of the Roman city], having remained a short while after prayer, wept before Us for the Catholic faith — himself invoking the chief of the Apostles as witness, surrounded by the multitude of bishops, whom he had gathered from the innumerable cities of Italy by the authority of his place and dignity — and mingling his tears with words drew Our own weeping to join his in a common grief.

The Faith Disturbed by One Man; The Apostolic See’s Form and Definition Must Be Followed; Flavian Must Remain in the Priesthood

For it is no small damage that has been done: that the faith which has been kept according to its rule for so many years since Our most sacred father Constantine, the first to shine as a Christian emperor, has now been disturbed at the will of one man — one who is narrated to have exercised rather hatred and contention in the Synod of the city of Ephesus, reaching for the bishop Flavian of the city of Constantinople through the presence and terror of soldiers, and treating all the bishops of these parts through those who had been sent to the council by the most reverend Roman bishop, who according to the definitions of the Nicene council are customarily present, most sacred son and venerable emperor.

By this grace, therefore, let your Meekness, resisting such great disturbances, command that the truth of the Catholic religious faith be kept inviolate: so that in accordance with the form and definition of the Apostolic See, which We also in like manner venerate as preeminent, with Flavian remaining in every respect in the status of the priesthood, the matter be transmitted to the judgment of the council and of the Apostolic See. Our petition, most sacred son and venerable emperor, is that the truth be restored; and for the fuller satisfaction of your piety We have directed the proceedings, through which all that has been conducted may come to your knowledge.

Source/Reference

PL 54:859

Notes / Historical Commentary

Letter LVI is Galla Placidia’s counterpart to Valentinian’s Letter LV — both produced in the same late-449 visit to Rome, both pressing the same demand upon Theodosius. Galla Placidia had been regent of the Western empire during Valentinian’s minority and remained one of the most politically influential figures in the West. Her letter brings something Letter LV does not: a first-person account of the encounter with Leo at St. Peter’s basilica that prompted the correspondence.

The scene she describes — Leo at Peter’s altar, invoking the Apostle as witness, surrounded by the Italian bishops he has assembled by the authority of his place — deserves careful attention. The phrase “by the authority of his place and dignity” — pro principatu proprii loci sua dignitate — attributes to the Roman bishop’s office the power to convene bishops throughout Italy: an institutional capacity, not merely a personal influence. The bishops have gathered around Leo at Peter’s altar because his place carries the authority to summon them. And at that altar Leo appeals not to a political argument but to the Apostle himself — a gesture entirely consistent with his recurring insistence, in letters throughout the corpus, that Peter continues to preside in his see and to act through his successor. Galla Placidia has witnessed something she considers worth reporting to the Eastern emperor, and she reports it in language that confirms the papal theology Leo himself articulates.

The key theological-jurisdictional claim appears in the closing section: that all matters must be resolved “in accordance with the form and definition of the Apostolic See, which we also venerate as preeminent.” This is a Western empress’s formal acknowledgment of the Apostolic See as the governing standard — preeminent over other sees, defining the form within which doctrinal and judicial matters must be resolved. Galla Placidia is not appealing to a council of equals or to the agreement of multiple patriarchs; she is directing Theodosius to bring the affair into conformity with what the Apostolic See has determined. The structure of her appeal is the structure of Roman primacy stated in secular imperial language.