Letter 11: ORDINATO AB EO KALENDIONE ANTIOCHENO to the bishop.

Bishop Simplicius to Acacius, concerning Calendio of Antioch who was ordained bishop by him. Wounded and exceedingly afflicted by the letters of the most merciful prince [the emperor Zeno] and of your Charity concerning the sacrilegious and most deadly slaughter which was committed at Antioch, I respond with sorrow, declaring this: if what I had written some time ago concerning Peter [the Fuller] and his other accomplices, and what I had requested that you suggest to his Piety [the emperor] along with the other brothers who were present, had been carried out as it ought to have been, the rashness of the heretics would not have come to so great a crime, nor would any necessity have arisen such that the aforesaid church could be relieved in no other way except that this very remedy should diminish something of its right. For although it has contributed to peace that, by the order of the most Christian prince and without prejudice to the canons, a bishop was ordained for the Antiochenes by your Charity, nevertheless it was not done without ill will, against which even that man who issued the order testifies that we must henceforth be on our guard by his own example. In this matter it is fitting that we render thanks to his Piety, since he so governed the power of his own glory that, with most faithful devotion, he submitted what he commanded to the rules of the Fathers, and did not allow to be received as authority what he established for a succeeding age to be forbidden, namely so that this should suffice only in the case of this one person, whom you consecrated as bishop for the Antiochenes by his command and out of zeal for peace, not by your own usurpation, since this was done out of necessity. In this we recognize that your Charity's compliance was not unreasonable, because, regarding the rights of the churches, you testify that you held back for a long time, not without good reason, lest you should seem to be seeking ambitiously what you could not refuse to so great a prince and in so grave a cause. Wherefore, most beloved brother, not unmindful of the ancient institutions, which have been proved in you, just as you see that we judge to be pardonable what is certain to have been commanded of you, so do you yourself, giving honor to the Fathers, labor so that there may be no necessity of doing that which you now desire to be cleared away by satisfaction.

SIMPLICIUS EPISCOPUS ACACIO. ^ ORDINATO AB EO KALENDIONE ANTIOCHENO EPISCOPO. Clementissimi principis litteris et tuae dilectionis de sacrilega 4ac» funestissima caede, quae apud Antiochiam faeta est, sauciatus et nimium affectus l antiochaena urbae B ueteré ore V, corr. man, 3 serbato V 2 episcopis V ordinaretur B 4 usu V, corr. man. 2 uenit JB qué praecipuae seruatis B 5 undeque V, corr. man. 2 — 6 quietudinis sanctae et religiosae ΒΒ 7 sub om. B 8. praecipuit.B is p:his VB 9 testimonia B uestrae et tanta V 10 praeter horum V . posito primi V et om. .B 11 eeclesiae B illad .B haec om. B repensi BB: repensis V sermones B 14 probatis V memoria et om. αὶ conuersationem B 15 offerri B — 16 austerita necompexi .B xl iu! pe illu vc cons. B, xL τυ post cons illue V 607. — Dat. simul cum ep. 66 die 22 Tun. a. 479 (482?). Edd. Car. I? 322; Bar. ad a. 479, 10; Collect. Concil.; BTA I 222; Thiel 2085. 19 lliilordinato V 20 et tuae p?: et que V, tuaeque Car. 21 ac inserui, et Car. — funestisima V 150 Simplicii papae epistulae maerore respondeo astruens: si quod iamdudum de Petro atque aliis complicibus eorum scripseram et ut pietati eius cum ceteris, qui aderant, fratribus suggereres postularam, ut oportuerat, ordinatum fuisset, haereticorum temeritas ad tan- tum facinus non ueniret nec aliquid necessitatis exsisteret, ut non aliter praedictae subueniretur eeclesiae, nisi ut aliquid de iure eius curatio ipsa minueret. quamuis enim profecerit ad quietem, quod Christianissimi principis iussione uel sine praeiudicio canonum ἃ tua caritate fuerit Antiochensibus episcopus ordinatus, tamen non est sine inuidia factum, cuius Ὁ eauendum deinceps etiam ille testatur, qui praecepit, exem- plum. in quo pietati eius gratias dignum est nos referre, quoniam ita gloriae suae moderatus est potestatem, ut fide- lissima deuotione patrum regulis T submittere, quae iuberet, nec in auctoritatem recipi, quod sequenti constituit aetate 1 prohiberi, ut scilicet in hac tantummodo persona, quam ius- su eius et studio quietis Antiochensibus, non tua usurpatione antistitem consecrasti, quod factum est necessitate, sufficeret. in quo tuae dilectionis non inrationabilem cognoscimus fuisse famulatum, quia ecclesiarum iura respiciens diu te non in- * merito suspendisse testaris, ne uidereris ambire, quod tanto principi et in tam graui eausa non poteras abnegare. ^ qua- propter, frater carissime, institutorum ueterum, quae in te sunt probata, non inmemor, sicut ueniale iudicare nos perui- des, quod tibi certum est imperatum, ita ipse dans honorem s patribus elabora, «ne» necessitas sit ulla faciendi, quod optas nunc satisfactione purgari. Lad 1l quod scripsi: que V 8 suggerere V, corr. g? 5 necesitatis V. Ἵ profecerit ras. ez profecerint V — 9 amíe fuerit eras. fuerant V an- tyochensibus Y 12 pietatis V, corr. o? 14 submitteret p?, uoluerit aut simile aliquid suppleri $ussit Coust. 16 silicet V 17 usurpaci- 8 Te one//! (eras. m) V 19 cognosimus Y . 21 uideris V tanto ez tanta Y 24 nos p*: non V 26 elabora V, littera e (uel et lsgatura qicto) ín ras. ne add. o? 10 15 Epist. LXVII 1 — LXVIII 2. 151