Letter 2: Symmachus, bishop, to our brother Aeonius.

Of Pope Symmachus to Aeonius, bishop of Arles. In the year 500, on the 28th of September. [Summary heading:] Having learned of those things which Pope Anastasius had introduced as innovations in the controversy concerning Vienne, he orders that the ancient decrees of the Apostolic See be observed. To his most beloved brother Aeonius, Symmachus. We have received the letter and instructions of your Affection, brought to us by our son Crescentius the priest, acting as intermediary, from which it is established that between the church of Arles and the church of Vienne there arises a certain struggle over the ordaining of bishops in the neighboring cities: this matter having come about, namely, because our predecessor Anastasius of holy memory, in dealing with the disorder of the province, ordered certain things to be observed contrary to ancient custom, namely concerning the ordination [...], transgressing in a way that ought not to have been done under any necessity. For since, after the likeness of the Trinity, whose power is one and undivided, the priesthood is one through its diverse holders, how does it come about that the statutes of those who went before are violated by those who follow? To this is added that, if such a diversity of judgments should arise, we believe it pertains to the most sacred catholic religion itself: whose entire authority is undermined, unless all things that are once established by [...] priests remain perpetual. This [authority] could be otherwise weakened, if a successor should not grant validity to the acts of his predecessor, and by confirming the things that were done make valid the things he himself has done. For it will be judged that as great a reverence is owed to the vicars of the most blessed apostle Peter [...] [Footnote apparatus:] '[Reading variants:] for "Crescentio ... innuntio." Also L*, L' read "in nuntio," just as shortly after L* reads "Arela[tensi]." [He] willed that what had been obtained from himself by subreption [fraudulent petition] should be void: so that, he says, [we wish] nothing against the venerable canons, nothing against the judgment of my predecessor of holy memory [to stand] - whatever shall have been established to have been wrested from us by stealth. For we are unwilling, dearest brethren, that the privileges, which must always be preserved, be thrown into confusion. What therefore [Pope] [...] then did, Anastasius too, having become better informed, would without doubt have done afterwards, had he not been prevented by death. This [point], moreover, is commended when [we compare] that last constitution of Hilarus [with] that which had preceded it, of his predecessor Leo. [In the year 500, the letter continues:] ... reverence; if the things which they prescribe in the priesthood are dissolved by the very passing-away of those same men? Re-reading therefore the ordinances of the ancient bishops upon this matter, with which the ecclesiastical archive is weighed down, we most earnestly admonish your Affection that, in ordaining priests throughout the several cities, hoary and venerable antiquity be preserved, and that a new enactment not diminish the strength of the old sanction, because concord cannot otherwise be preserved among you, unless to new ambitions the reverence of antiquity sets a measure by the more prudent counsel. May the Lord keep you safe, dearest brother! Given on the third day before the Kalends of October [29 September], again after the consulship of Paulinus the younger, a most distinguished man. - Easter Sunday is on the eighth day before the Kalends of April [25 March].

Symmaelil papae ad Aeonium Arelatensem episcopum. a. 500 d. 28 Sept. w^istis iUf quae Aruutasius papa in Viennensi eontroversia innovarat, antiqua sedis apostolicae decreta observari jubet, Dilectissimo fratri Aeonio Symmachus. Dilectionis tuae litteras mandataque filio nostro Crescentino ^) ilytero intemuntio deferente suscepimus, quibus constat inter Latensem et Yiennensem ecclesiam aliquod de ordinandis episcopis ^icinis civitatibus oriri luctamen: illa re videlicet faciente, quod ^ssor noster sanctae recordationis Anastasius, tractans confusionem rinciae, aliqua contra veterem^) consuetudinem jusserit observari, ^ssorum suorum videlicet ordinationem, quod non oportebat sub libet necessitate, transgrediens. Nam dum ad Trinitatis instar,. is una est atque individua potestas, unum sit per diversos an- ites sacerdotium, quemadmodum priorum statuta a sequentibus venit violari? Huc accedit, quod^) haec si eveniat sententiarum letas, ad ipsam sacrosauctam catholicam religionem creaimus binere: cujus omnis potestas infringitur, nisi universa, quae^) a aini sacerdotibus semel statuuntur, perpetua sint. * Quod *) alias fcingere poterit, si successor decessoris actibus non tribuerit fir- ^tem, et roborando quae gesta sunt, faciat rata esse quae gesserit. •nta enim vicariis beatissimi Petri apostoli judicabitur esse reve- ') b Crescentio ... innuntio. Etiam L* L' in nuntio, sicut mox L* in Arela' wi. Bubreptionem a se impetratum fuerat, irritum esse voluit: ut nihilf inquit, ^9um venerandos canoneSj nihil contra sanctae memoriae decessoris mei Judicium (<> quidquid nobis obreptum esse constiterit, Nolumus namque, fratres carissimi, 9ianan privHegia, quae semper sunt servanda, confundi, Quod igitur tum fecit rus, fecisset postea haud dubie Anastasius instructior factus, nisi morte iVentuB fuisset. Hic autem commendatur quum postrema illa Hilari consti- \ tum quae praecesserat dccessoris ejus Leonis. a. 500. rentia; si quae in'^) sacerdotio praecipiunt, eisdem transetmtibTiB dissolvantur? Relegentes ergo veterum antistitum super hac auffia ordinationes, quibus ecclesiastieum gravatur scrinium^ dilection«ii tuam enixissime commonemuS; ut in ordinandis per singulas ufbes sacerdotibus cana') ac reverenda servetur antiquitas, nec noYeB& constitutio vctustae sanctionis robur imminuat^ quia non aliter intet V08 poterit servari concordia, nisi novis cupiditatibus antiqmiatis reverentia modus prudentiori adhibeatur consilio. Dominus te in- columem custoiliat , frater"*) carissime ! Data III Calendas Octobris, iterum post consulatum Pauliiii junions viri clarissimi. — Domini- cum^) Pascha VIII Calendas Aprilis.