Roman Letters: A Digital Corpus of Late Antique Correspondence

Vander Galien, Craig

doi:10.5281/zenodo.19142059

Letter 48: The Emperor Justin Augustus to Hormisdas.

Hormisdas→Hormisdas, Rome|c. 516 AD|Hormisdas|AI-assisted

imperial politicspapal authority

[Emperor] Justin Augustus to Hormisdas. The victor Justin, pious, fortunate, renowned, triumphant, ever Augustus, to Hormisdas, most holy and most blessed archbishop and patriarch. Know, most religious father, that there has been accomplished for us [the thing] which for a long time was sought with the utmost zeal; you will have learned that it has been brought to light, even before those who were sent by you have arrived, that John, the most blessed bishop, the prelate of our New Rome, together with his clergy, are of one mind with you, varying by no ambiguities, divided by no discords; know that the document subscribed by him, which you had judged ought to be presented, is in accord with the council of the most holy fathers. All hasten with eager effort to take up the vows both of your see and of the see of Constantinople, all whom the flashing splendor of the truth illuminates; all hasten most willingly, all whom the clear road delights, and they follow the most holy decrees of the fathers, the most approved laws; and with the counsels of certain men confirmed, namely those who held to the right path, and with those of others corrected, namely those who were wandering uncertain, the matter is gathered to this end, that they too may by the unity of their minds revere the unity of the undivided Trinity. It has been denied that, amid the divine mysteries, there should henceforth be made, in accordance with the tenor of the document which we have mentioned, a commemoration of Acacius, once the prevaricating bishop of this royal city, nor likewise of the other priests who either were the first to come against the apostolic ordinances, or were made the successors of [his] error, corrected by no penitence right up to their last day. And since all our regions are to be admonished to imitate the example of the royal city, we have determined that imperial precepts must be dispatched everywhere: with so great a duty of religion do we burn, with so great a zeal do we strive after the peace of the catholic faith, for the sake of the peace of our commonwealth to be recompensed from heaven, for the sake of the supernal protection to be procured for those subject to me. For what can be found more pleasing, what more just, what more illustrious, than that those whom the same realm contains and whom the worship of the same faith irradiates should not strive after divergent things, but, with their perceptions gathered upon the same object, should venerate ordinances conceived not by human mind but by the foresight of the divine Spirit? Let therefore the holiness of your religion pray that the help of the divine gift may grant to be preserved in unbroken perpetuity that which, with ever-watchful zeal, is being procured for the concord of the churches of the catholic faith. Given on the tenth day before the Kalends of May [22 April], at Constantinople. [The bulk of this entry consists of the editor's critical apparatus, recording manuscript readings, dating, and transmission, summarized here: the heading and consular dating note that the letter was written at Constantinople under the consulship of the lord Justin, perpetual Augustus, and Eutharic, most excellent man; the Spanish (Hispana) tradition instead gives the consulship of the lord Justin, prince and Augustus, and Heraclius, most excellent men, era 557. The letter (number 160 in the Avellana collection, sent together with letters 161-165, 167, and 223) was dated 22 April 519 and carried by Pullio; it was received on 19 June. Besides the Avellana collection, this letter also survives in the Hispana collection (Gonzalez edition, volume II, number 87, page 143), whence in a fairly interpolated form it passed into the Pseudo-Isidorian collection (page 687, Hinschius edition); the text of Pseudo-Isidore agrees almost entirely with that given by Gregory in the Polycarpus, chapter 19, book VII, title 5 (compare Huffer, Contributions to the History of the Sources of Canon Law, page 108). "Hisp." denotes the consensus of the Gonzalez edition and of the manuscripts. From the Avellana the letter was edited by Carolus, volume I, page 495, whom Baronius (under the year 519, section 58), the Collectio Conciliorum, and Thiel (page 861) followed. With the Avellana title omitted, the Hispana prefixes the heading: "Letter (sacred) of the emperor Justin to Pope Hormisdas. To the most holy and most blessed archbishop of the gracious city of Rome and patriarch Hormisdas, the emperor Justin sets this before." Variant readings of individual words from manuscript V and the Hispana are also recorded.]

irSTTNUS AUGUSTUS HORMISDAE. UICTOR lUSTINUS PIUS FELIX INCLITUS TRIUMPHATOR BEMPER 15 AUGUSTUS HORMISDAE SANCTISSIMO AC BEATISSIMO ARCHIEPISCOPO ET PATRiARCHAE. Scias effectum nobis, pater religiosissime, 4 supradictos Hisp. 9 ora . . frater om. V 10 uicesimo et octauo Htap, (cf, Beitrdge p. 22)-. xivii V 11 ind Vi, indictionis Gom. Constantinopoli domno lustino perpetuo Augusto et Eutharico u. c. conss. scripsi: consenau domni lustini ]>i). aug. et Eutharici ug cons V, con- sulibus domino lustino principe (imperatore i) augusto et Heraclio uiris clarissimis era dlvii Hisp. 160, Bat. (simul cum epp. lGl—165, 107, 223) a. 519 die 22 Apr. per Pullionem: accept. die 19 lunii. Haec quoque epistula praeter Auellanam extat in colleciione Hispana (ed. Gomalee II n. 87 p. 143), unde satis interpolata transiit in Pseudoisidorianam {p. 687 ed. Hin- schius; cum tcxtu Pseudoisidori consentit fere is, quem praebet Gregorius in Polycarpi c. 19 lib. VII tit. 5, cf. Huffer, Beitr. z. Gescf^. der Quellen des Kirchenrechts p. 108): Hisp. = consensxis editionis Gon- zalezii (= Gonz.) et codicum i (i^ = Uaiic. 1341, = Uatic, 630, i^ = Uatic. 3791). Ex Auellana episiulam edidit Car. I^ 495, quem secuti sunt Bar. ad a. 519, 58; CoUect. Condl.; Thiel 861. 14 Auellanae titulo omisso Epistola (sacra t) lustini imperatoris ad Hormisdam papam. Sanctissimo (sacratissimo i) ac beatissimo archi- episcopo almae urbis Romae et patriarchae Hormisdae lustinus imperator praefigit Hisp. 16 ac o: hac V 17 reliosissime V Epist. CLIX 7 — CLX 5. 611 quod diu summis studiis quaerebatur; noueris patefactum et antequam aduenerint, qui a uobis destinati sunt, quod lohannes uir beatissimus antistes nouae Romae nostrae una cum clero eius uobiscum sentiunt nuUis uariantes ambigui- 5 tatibus, nuUis diuisi discordiis ; scias libellum ab eo subscriptum, quem offerendum iudicaueras sanctissimorum patrum concilio congruentem. omnes concurrunt alacri opere ad suscipienda 2 uota tam uestrae quam Constantinopolitanae sedis, quos ueritatis coruscus fulgor illuminat; omnes accelerant libentis- 10 sime, quos oblectat uia dilucida, sequuntur scita patrum sanctissima, leges probatissimas, et consiliis quorundam firmatis, qui rectum tenebant tramitem, aliorum correctis, qui Tiagabantur incerti, in eo res colligitur, ut unitatem indiuiduae trinitatis ipsi quoque unitate colant mentium. 15 negatum est inter diuina mysteria memoriam in posterum 3 fieri pro tenore libelli, quem diximus, Acacii praeuaricatoris quondam regiae huius urbis episcopi nec non et aliorum sacerdotum, qui uel primi contra constituta uenerunt aposto- lica uel successores en*oris facti sunt nuUa usque ad ultimum «0 diem suum paenitentia correcti. et quoniam omnes nostrae 4 regiones admonendae sunt, ut exemplum imitentur ciuitatis regiae, destinanda ubique principalia praecepta duximus: tanto flagramus religionis officio, tanto affectamus studio pacem catholicae fidei pro remuneranda caelitus pace nostrae rei 25 publicae, pro conciliando subiectis meis superno praesidio. quid enim gratius reperiri potest, quid iustius, quid illustrius, quam quos idem regnum continet eiusdemque fidei cultus irradiat, eos non diuersa contendere sed collectis in eodem sensibus instituta uenerari non humana mente lata sed diuini aoprudentia spiritus? oret igitur uestrae religionis sanctitas, ut 5 612 lohannes Constantinopolitanus Horroisdae quod peruigili studio pro concordia ecclesiarum catholicae fidei procuratur, diuini muneris opitulatio iugi perpetuitate seruari annuat. Dat. X. Eal. Maias Constantinopoli.

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[Emperor] Justin Augustus to Hormisdas. The victor Justin, pious, fortunate, renowned, triumphant, ever Augustus, to Hormisdas, most holy and most blessed archbishop and patriarch.

Know, most religious father, that there has been accomplished for us [the thing] which for a long time was sought with the utmost zeal; you will have learned that it has been brought to light, even before those who were sent by you have arrived, that John, the most blessed bishop, the prelate of our New Rome, together with his clergy, are of one mind with you, varying by no ambiguities, divided by no discords; know that the document subscribed by him, which you had judged ought to be presented, is in accord with the council of the most holy fathers. All hasten with eager effort to take up the vows both of your see and of the see of Constantinople, all whom the flashing splendor of the truth illuminates; all hasten most willingly, all whom the clear road delights, and they follow the most holy decrees of the fathers, the most approved laws; and with the counsels of certain men confirmed, namely those who held to the right path, and with those of others corrected, namely those who were wandering uncertain, the matter is gathered to this end, that they too may by the unity of their minds revere the unity of the undivided Trinity.

It has been denied that, amid the divine mysteries, there should henceforth be made, in accordance with the tenor of the document which we have mentioned, a commemoration of Acacius, once the prevaricating bishop of this royal city, nor likewise of the other priests who either were the first to come against the apostolic ordinances, or were made the successors of [his] error, corrected by no penitence right up to their last day.

And since all our regions are to be admonished to imitate the example of the royal city, we have determined that imperial precepts must be dispatched everywhere: with so great a duty of religion do we burn, with so great a zeal do we strive after the peace of the catholic faith, for the sake of the peace of our commonwealth to be recompensed from heaven, for the sake of the supernal protection to be procured for those subject to me. For what can be found more pleasing, what more just, what more illustrious, than that those whom the same realm contains and whom the worship of the same faith irradiates should not strive after divergent things, but, with their perceptions gathered upon the same object, should venerate ordinances conceived not by human mind but by the foresight of the divine Spirit?

Let therefore the holiness of your religion pray that the help of the divine gift may grant to be preserved in unbroken perpetuity that which, with ever-watchful zeal, is being procured for the concord of the churches of the catholic faith. Given on the tenth day before the Kalends of May [22 April], at Constantinople.

[The bulk of this entry consists of the editor's critical apparatus, recording manuscript readings, dating, and transmission, summarized here: the heading and consular dating note that the letter was written at Constantinople under the consulship of the lord Justin, perpetual Augustus, and Eutharic, most excellent man; the Spanish (Hispana) tradition instead gives the consulship of the lord Justin, prince and Augustus, and Heraclius, most excellent men, era 557. The letter (number 160 in the Avellana collection, sent together with letters 161-165, 167, and 223) was dated 22 April 519 and carried by Pullio; it was received on 19 June. Besides the Avellana collection, this letter also survives in the Hispana collection (Gonzalez edition, volume II, number 87, page 143), whence in a fairly interpolated form it passed into the Pseudo-Isidorian collection (page 687, Hinschius edition); the text of Pseudo-Isidore agrees almost entirely with that given by Gregory in the Polycarpus, chapter 19, book VII, title 5 (compare Huffer, Contributions to the History of the Sources of Canon Law, page 108). "Hisp." denotes the consensus of the Gonzalez edition and of the manuscripts. From the Avellana the letter was edited by Carolus, volume I, page 495, whom Baronius (under the year 519, section 58), the Collectio Conciliorum, and Thiel (page 861) followed. With the Avellana title omitted, the Hispana prefixes the heading: "Letter (sacred) of the emperor Justin to Pope Hormisdas. To the most holy and most blessed archbishop of the gracious city of Rome and patriarch Hormisdas, the emperor Justin sets this before." Variant readings of individual words from manuscript V and the Hispana are also recorded.]

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

irSTTNUS AUGUSTUS HORMISDAE. UICTOR lUSTINUS PIUS FELIX INCLITUS TRIUMPHATOR BEMPER 15 AUGUSTUS HORMISDAE SANCTISSIMO AC BEATISSIMO ARCHIEPISCOPO
ET PATRiARCHAE. Scias effectum nobis, pater religiosissime,
4 supradictos Hisp. 9 ora . . frater om. V 10 uicesimo et octauo Htap, (cf, Beitrdge p. 22)-. xivii V 11 ind Vi, indictionis Gom. Constantinopoli domno lustino perpetuo Augusto et Eutharico u. c. conss.
scripsi: consenau domni lustini ]>i). aug. et Eutharici ug cons V, con- sulibus domino lustino principe (imperatore i) augusto et Heraclio uiris clarissimis era dlvii Hisp.
160, Bat. (simul cum epp. lGl—165, 107, 223) a. 519 die 22 Apr. per Pullionem: accept. die 19 lunii. Haec quoque epistula praeter Auellanam extat in colleciione Hispana (ed. Gomalee II n. 87 p. 143), unde satis interpolata transiit in Pseudoisidorianam {p. 687 ed. Hin- schius; cum tcxtu Pseudoisidori consentit fere is, quem praebet Gregorius in Polycarpi c. 19 lib. VII tit. 5, cf. Huffer, Beitr. z. Gescf^. der Quellen des Kirchenrechts p. 108): Hisp. = consensxis editionis Gon- zalezii (= Gonz.) et codicum i (i^ = Uaiic. 1341, = Uatic, 630, i^ = Uatic. 3791). Ex Auellana episiulam edidit Car. I^ 495, quem secuti sunt Bar. ad a. 519, 58; CoUect. Condl.; Thiel 861. 14 Auellanae titulo omisso Epistola (sacra t) lustini imperatoris ad Hormisdam papam. Sanctissimo (sacratissimo i) ac beatissimo archi- episcopo almae urbis Romae et patriarchae Hormisdae lustinus imperator praefigit Hisp. 16 ac o: hac V 17 reliosissime V
Epist. CLIX 7 — CLX 5. 611
quod diu summis studiis quaerebatur; noueris patefactum et antequam aduenerint, qui a uobis destinati sunt, quod lohannes uir beatissimus antistes nouae Romae nostrae una cum clero eius uobiscum sentiunt nuUis uariantes ambigui-
5 tatibus, nuUis diuisi discordiis ; scias libellum ab eo subscriptum, quem offerendum iudicaueras sanctissimorum patrum concilio congruentem. omnes concurrunt alacri opere ad suscipienda 2 uota tam uestrae quam Constantinopolitanae sedis, quos ueritatis coruscus fulgor illuminat; omnes accelerant libentis-
10 sime, quos oblectat uia dilucida, sequuntur scita patrum sanctissima, leges probatissimas, et consiliis quorundam firmatis, qui rectum tenebant tramitem, aliorum correctis, qui Tiagabantur incerti, in eo res colligitur, ut unitatem indiuiduae trinitatis ipsi quoque unitate colant mentium.
15 negatum est inter diuina mysteria memoriam in posterum 3 fieri pro tenore libelli, quem diximus, Acacii praeuaricatoris quondam regiae huius urbis episcopi nec non et aliorum sacerdotum, qui uel primi contra constituta uenerunt aposto- lica uel successores en*oris facti sunt nuUa usque ad ultimum
«0 diem suum paenitentia correcti. et quoniam omnes nostrae 4 regiones admonendae sunt, ut exemplum imitentur ciuitatis regiae, destinanda ubique principalia praecepta duximus: tanto flagramus religionis officio, tanto affectamus studio pacem catholicae fidei pro remuneranda caelitus pace nostrae rei
25 publicae, pro conciliando subiectis meis superno praesidio. quid enim gratius reperiri potest, quid iustius, quid illustrius, quam quos idem regnum continet eiusdemque fidei cultus irradiat, eos non diuersa contendere sed collectis in eodem sensibus instituta uenerari non humana mente lata sed diuini
aoprudentia spiritus? oret igitur uestrae religionis sanctitas, ut 5
612
lohannes Constantinopolitanus Horroisdae
quod peruigili studio pro concordia ecclesiarum catholicae fidei procuratur, diuini muneris opitulatio iugi perpetuitate seruari annuat. Dat. X. Eal. Maias Constantinopoli.

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