Letter 107: Maximus and Theodorus report Macrobius's refusal to change course.

Maximus and Theodorus, correspondents of AugustineAugustine of Hippo|c. 409 AD|Augustine of Hippo|From Hippo Regius|To Hippo Regius|AI-assisted
donatismbaptismchurch disciplinereport
Source-visible Augustine letter absent from the New Advent/NPNF English index; modern English is a first-time Roman Letters translation from Latin.

At the command of Your Holiness we went to Bishop Macrobius. When we brought him the letter of Your Blessedness, he first refused to have it read to him. Later, moved somewhat by our urging, he allowed it to be read. After it had been read, he said, "I can only receive those who come to me and give them the faith they ask for."

When we asked him what he said about the case of Primian, he said that, having only recently been ordained, he could not be a judge of his father, but would remain in what he had received from his predecessors. We had to report this to Your Holiness by this letter. May the Lord preserve Your Blessedness for us, lord father.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

EPISTOLA 107

Scripta post superiorem.

Maximus et Theodorus Augustino renuntiantes quid ipsis coram responderit Macrobius Donatista ad ipsius litteras.

DOMINO BEATISSIMO ET VENERABILI MULTUMQUE DESIDERABILI PATRI AUGUSTINO MAXIMUS ET THEODORUS, IN DOMINO SALUTEM

1. Ex praecepto Sanctitatis tuae ad episcopum Macrobium perreximus; ad quem cum litteras Beatitudinis tuae perferremus, primo negavit se ne eidem legerentur. Deinde aliquando ex nostra suggestione commotus, easdem sibi voluit recitari quibus relectis ait: "Non possum nisi ad me venientes suscipere, et iisdem fidem quam postulaverint dare." Cum autem a nobis eidem diceretur quid de facto Primiani diceret, dixit se nuper ordinatum patris sui iudicem esse non posse, sed in id quod a prioribus suis acceperit permanere. Quod necesse habuimus his litteris Sanctitati tuae significare. Beatitudinem tuam nobis Dominus custodiat, domine pater.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern augustine missing pilot latin v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.augustinus.it/latino/lettere/lettera_108_testo.htm

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