Optatus of Milevis, Against the Donatists (1917) Appendices 3-16. pp. 382-431.
APPENDIX III. CONSTANTINUS AUGUSTUS AELAFIO.
I NTRODUCTION
In this letter Constantine sends orders to his Vicar in Africa that Caecilian and certain other Bishops (both Catholic and Donatist) should be directed to proceed, with some of their clergy, to Aries, where a Council was to be held (as he explains) once more publicly to vindicate the character of Caecilian. The date is 314.
This letter may be compared with another letter sent by Constantine to Chrestus, Bishop of Syracuse, and preserved for us by Eusebius (x, 5). In both these letters August 1 is fixed as the date for the opening of the Council at Arles; in both we find a reference to the Council which had been already held at Rome under Miltiades. Indeed the similarity between them is so striking that it has been suggested that the letter to Aelafius is a forgery and has been copied from that to Chrestus. But Mgr. Duchesne has shown ( op. cit. p. 32) that this is quite impossible, since the letter to Chrestus was unknown in Africa, at the time when the letter to Aelafius was placed in the collection used by Optatus. The only edition of Eusebius known to St. Augustine, for example, was the version of Rufinus, where Book Ten (containing the letter to Chrestus) is wanting.
It has also been urged as an argument against the authenticity of the Letter to Aelafius that the Bishops are herein ordered to adopt a most improbable itinerary. They were directed to follow the coast of Mauritania, |383 thence to pass into Spain, and then to travel to Arles by land; whereas it has been pointed out that it would have been far simpler and cheaper to embark at Carthage, or Hippo, and go straight to Marseilles by sea. But here again Mgr. Duchesne has observed, with irrefutable force, that if the Letter to Aelafius be not genuine, it must have been composed by an African of the fourth century. During the course of that century there is no reason to suppose that there was any change of routes. And (to quote the words of Duchesne):
'The Africans who were the contemporaries of St. Optatus knew how people went from their own country into Gaul. No one of them, had he forged such a letter as this, would ever have dreamed of placing within it an impossible itinerary.'
On the other hand we can nowadays know but little of the circumstances which may well have caused the itinerary described in this letter to have been chosen for the journey of the Bishops to Gaul. So we may safely conclude, with Duchesne, that as to the authenticity of the letter there is no room for genuine doubt. |384
CONSTANTINE THE EMPEROR TO AELAFIUS
Already some time back, since it was brought to my knowledge that many persons in our dominion of Africa had begun to separate from one another with mad fury, and had brought purposeless accusations against each other about the keeping of the most holy Catholic Law, I thought it well, in order to settle this quarrel, that Caecilian the Bishop of Carthage, against whom especially they all often petitioned me, should go to the City of Rome, and that some of those who had deemed fit to bring certain charges against him, should appear as well. I also ordered some Bishops from the Gauls to proceed to our above-mentioned City of Rome, that, by the integrity of their lives and praiseworthy manner of living, together with seven Bishops of the same Communion, and the Bishop of the City of Rome, and their assessors, they might give due attention to the questions which had been raised. Now they brought to my knowledge, by the written Acts of their meeting, all that had been done in |385 their presence, affirming also by word of mouth that their judgement was based upon equity, and declaring that not Caecilian, but those who brought charges against him, were guilty----so that, after giving their judgement, they forbade the latter to go back to Africa. Wherefore, in consequence of all this I once hoped that, in accordance with the probable issue of events, a fitting end had been made to all the seditions and contentions of every kind which had been suddenly called into being by the other party. But after I had read your letters, which you had deemed it your duty to send to Nicasius and the rest, about the crafty pretext of these men, I recognised clearly that they would not place before their eyes either considerations of their own salvation, or (what is of more importance) the reverence which is due to Almighty God----for they are persisting in a line of action which not merely leads to their shame and disgrace, but also gives an opportunity of detraction to those who are known to turn their minds away from the keeping of the most holy Catholic Law. I write thus because----and this is a thing which it is well that you should know----some have come from these men, asserting that the above-mentioned Caecilian is deemed not to be worthy of the worship of our most holy religion, and in answer to my reply that they were making an empty boast (since the affair had been terminated in the City of Rome by competent men of the highest character, who were Bishops), they thought fit to answer with persistent obstinacy that the whole case had not been heard, but that these Bishops had shut themselves up somewhere and given the judgement as was most convenient to themselves. Wherefore, since I perceived that these numerous and important affairs were being pertinaciously delayed by discussions, so that it appeared |386 that no end could be made of them without both Caecilian and three of those who are making a schism against him coming to the town of Arles, for the judgement of those who are opposed to Caecilian, and are bound to accept him as Bishop, I have deemed it well to impose upon your care to provide, as soon as you receive this letter of mine, that the above-mentioned Caecilian with some of those whom he himself shall choose----and also some from the provinces of Byzacium, Tripolis, the Numidias and the Mauritanias, and each of the provinces, (and these must bring a certain number of their clergy whom they shall choose)----and also some of those who have made a schism against Caecilian (public conveyance being provided through Africa and Mauritania) shall travel thence by a short course to Spain. In the same way you shall provide in Spain each Bishop with a single right of conveyance so that they may all arrive at the above-mentioned place |387 by August 1; furthermore you will be pleased to convey to them without delay that it is their duty to provide, before they depart, for suitable discipline in their absence, in order that no sedition or contention of disputing parties may arise----a thing which would be the greatest disgrace. As to the rest, after the matter has been fully inquired into, let it be brought to an end. For when they shall all have come together, those things which are now known to be subjects of contention should with reason receive a timely conclusion, and be forthwith finished and arranged. I confess to your Lordship, since I am well aware that you also are a worshipper of the most High God, that I consider it by no means right that contentions and altercations of this kind should be hidden from me, by which, perchance, God may be moved not only against the human race, but also against me myself, to whose care, by His heavenly Decree, He has entrusted the direction of all human affairs, and may in His wrath provide otherwise than heretofore. For then shall I be able to remain truly and most fully without anxiety, and may always hope for all most prosperous and excellent things from the ever-ready kindness of the most powerful God, when I shall know that all, bound together in brotherly concord, adore the most holy God with the worship of the Catholic religion, that is His due. |388
APPENDIX IV. EPISTOLA CONCILII ARELATENSIS AD SILVESTRUM PAPAM, A.D. 314
I NTRODUCTION
The authenticity of this letter has never been contested. It is to be found, though under a slightly different form, in the collection of Canons of Merovingian Gaul, where it has been derived, not from African sources, but from the Archives of the Church of Arles.
In all probability a letter was also sent from the Council, announcing its decisions, to the Church of Carthage. But if so, this letter has been lost.
In the same way the Council of Sardica, at the conclusion of its labours, sent two letters (both extant), one to the Pope, the second to the Church of Alexandria. We also possess a letter from the Council of Nicaea to Alexandria; the letter from Nicaea to the Pope has shared the same fate as the letter from Arles to Carthage. That there was such a letter can hardly be doubted. As Duchesne writes (p. 15):
'Il n'est guère douteux que les légats de Silvestre au Concile de Nicée n'aient rapporté une lettre de cette assemblée, accompagnant, comme pour le Concile d'Arles, l'envoi des Canons disciplinaires.' |389
Letter of the Council of Arles to Pope Silvester.
To the most beloved Pope Silvester: Marinus, Acratius, Natalis, Theodore, Proterius, Vocius, Verus, Probatius, Caecilian, Faustinus, Surgentius, Gregory, Reticius, Ambitausus, Termatius, Merocles, Pardus, Adelfius, Hibernius, Fortunatus, Aristasius, Lampadius, Vitalis, Maternus, Liberius, Gregory, Crescens, Avitianus, Dafnus, Orantalis, Quintasius, Victor, Epictetus, eternal health in the Lord!
Being united by the common tie of charity, and by that unity which is the bond of our mother, the Catholic Church, we have been brought to the City of Arles by the wish of the most pious Emperor, and we salute thee with the reverence which is thy due, most glorious Pope. Here we have suffered from, troublesome men, dangerous to our law and tradition----men of undisciplined mind, whom both the authority of our God, which is with us, and our tradition and the rule of truth reject, because they neither have reasonableness in their argument, nor any moderation in their accusations, nor was their manner of proof to the point. Therefore by the Judgement of God and of Mother Church, who knows and approves her own, they have been either condemned or rejected. |390 And would, most beloved Brother, that you had deemed it well to be present at this great spectacle. We believe surely that in that case a more severe sentence would have been passed against them; and our assembly would have exulted with a greater joy, had you passed Judgement together with us. But since you were by no means able to leave that region, where the Apostles daily sit, and their blood without ceasing bears witness to the glory of God, it did not seem to us that by reason of your absence, most well-beloved Brother, we ought to deal exclusively with those matters, on account of which we had been summoned, but we judged that we also should take counsel on our own affairs; because, as the countries from which we come are different, so events of various kinds will happen which we think that we ought to watch and regulate. Accordingly we thought well in the presence of the Holy Spirit and His Angels that from among the various matters which occurred to each of us, we should make some decrees to provide for the present state of tranquillity. We also agreed to write first to you, who hold [the government of] the greater dioceses, that by |391 you especially they should be brought to the knowledge of all. What it is that we have determined on, we have appended to this writing of our insignificance. But in the first place, we were bound to discuss a matter that concerned the usefulness of our life. Now since one died and rose again for many, the same season should be observed with a religious mind by all at the same time, lest divisions or dissensions might arise in so great a service of devotion. We judge, therefore, that the Pasch of the Lord should be observed throughout the world upon the same day.
Also, concerning those who have been ordained clerics in any places whatsoever, we have decreed that they remain fixed in the same places. Concerning those too who throw down their arms in time of peace, we have decreed that they should be kept from communion. Concerning the wandering agitators who belong to the Faithful, we have decreed that, as long as they continue their agitation, they be debarred from communion.
Concerning the strolling players we have decreed that, as long as they act, they be debarred from communion. Concerning those [heretics] who are weighed down by illness and wish to believe, we have decreed that hands be laid upon them. Concerning magistrates who belong to the Faithful and are appointed to office, we have determined that, when they are promoted, they should receive ecclesiastical letters of communion, but in such a way that in whatever place they may be living, the Bishop of that place shall have a heed to them, and if they begin to act against discipline, they be then excluded from communion. We have decreed similarly with regard to those who wish |392 to hold state offices. Moreover, with regard to the Africans, inasmuch as they use their own law of rebaptising, we have decreed that if any heretic comes to the Church, he should be questioned concerning the Creed, and if it be found that he has been baptised in the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, hands shall be laid upon him and no more. But if, on being questioned as to the Creed, he does not give the Trinity in answer, then let him rightly be baptised, and the rest, etc.
Then giving over, he commanded all to return to their homes. Amen. |393
APPENDIX V. EPISTOLA CONSTANTINI IMPERATORIS AD EPISCOPOS CATHOLICOS POST SYNODUM ARELATENSE SCRIPTA A.D. 314 circa finem.
I NTRODUCTION
Two objections, both of them sufficiently flimsy, have been brought against the authenticity of this letter, from which St. Optatus quotes twice (i, 23, 25, cf. pp. 44, 49), though, as we have seen, he was mistaken as to its date.