Delphi Complete Works of Sidonius Apollinaris, page 107
Sidonius Domino Papae Agroecio salutem
V.
To the Lord Bishop Agroeclus A. D. 472
[1] Biturigas decreto civium petitus adveni: causa fuit evocationis titubans ecclesiae status, quae nuper summo viduata pontifice utriusque professionis ordinibus ambiendi sacerdotii quoddam classicum cecinit, fremit populus per studia divisus; pauci alteros, multi sese non offerunt solum sed inferunt, si aliquid pro virili portione secundum deum consulas veritatemque, omnia occurrunt levia varia fucata, et (quid dicam?) sola est illic simplex impudentia.
[1] A PUBLIC resolution of the citizens has called me to Bourges. The reason for the summons is the tottering condition of the Church, which has just been widowed of her bishop; members of both orders have been intriguing for the vacant see, just as if some bugle had sounded for the fray. The people are excited, and divided into factions; while only a few are ready to propose others, there are many who do not so much propose as impose themselves. To a man determined, as far as in him lies, to obey God and keep fast the truth, everything here seems frivolous, unstable, and sophisticated; one might say that the only genuine thing left is impudence.
[2] et nisi me immerito queri iudicaretis, dicere auderem tam praecipitis animi esse plerosque tamque periculosi, ut sacrosanctam sedem dignitatemque affectare pretio oblato non reformident, remque iam dudum in nundinam mitti auctionemque potuisse, si quam paratus invenitur emptor, venditor tam desperatus inveniretur. proin quaeso, ut officii mei novitatem pudorem necessitatem exspecta- tissimi 1 adventus tui ornes contubernio, tuteris auxilio.
[2] You may think these laments exaggerated; but I scarcely hesitate to affirm that there are many here who harbour thoughts so rash and ruinous that they are ready to offer ready money for this holy see and all its dignity; the sale might before now have been effected in open market if the greed of the would-be purchasers had found response in vendors equal in audacity. I entreat you, therefore, to crown my hopes by giving me the honour of your presence under the same roof, and lending my diffidence, my embarrassment, and my inexperience the shelter of your high protection.
[3] nec te, quamquam Senoniae caput es, inter haec dubia subtraxeris intentionibus medendis Aquitanorum, quia minimum refert, quod nobis est in habitatione divisa provincia, quando in religione causa coniungitur, his accedit, quod de urbibus Aquitanicae primae solum oppidum Arvernum Romanorum 2 reliquum partibus bella fecerunt, quapropter in constituendo praefatae civitatis anti-stite provincialium collegarum deficimur numero, nisi metropolitanorum reficiamur assensu.
[3] At a time of such perplexity, do not refuse your help in healing the dissensions of the people of Aquitaine; it is true that you are at the head of the Sénonais, but that is of small consequence; though we live in different provinces, we are bound by a single religious bond. Besides, Clermont is the last of all the cities in Aquitanica Prima which the fortune of war has left to Rome; the number of provincial bishops is therefore inadequate to the election of a new prelate at Bourges, unless we have the support of the metropolitans.
[4] de cetero quod ad honoris vestri spectat praerogativam, nullus a me hactenus nominatus, nullus adhibitus, nullus electus est; omnia censurae tuae salva inlibata solida servantur. tantum hoc meum duco, vestras invitare personas expectare voluntates laudare sententias, et 1 cum in locum statumque pontificis quisque sufficitur, ut a vobis praeceptum, a me procedat obsequium.
[4] Rest assured that I have in no way encroached on your prerogatives. As yet I have neither nominated, summoned, nor preferred a candidate; I have left the matter absolutely intact for your decision. All that I take upon myself is to invite you hither, to await your good pleasure, to acquiesce in your opinion, and when the throne is filled, to render the proper deference to your commands.
[5] sed si, quod tamen arbitror minime fore, precibus meis apud vos malesuadus obstiterit interpres, poteritis praesentiam vestram potius excusare quam culpam; sicut e diverso, si venitis, ostenditis, quia terminus potuerit poni vestrae quidem regioni, sed non potuerit caritati. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.
[5] I do not for a moment suspect that any bad adviser will dissuade you from acceding to this request; but should that prove to be the case, you will hardly acquit yourself of blame, though it is easy to find reasonable excuses for not undertaking so long a journey. On the other hand, your coming will prove that though there may be limits to your diocese, your brotherly love is without bounds. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
Sidonius Domino Papae Basilio salutem
VI.
To the Lord Bishop Basilius A.D. 472-3
[1] Sunt nobis munere dei novo nostrorum temporum exemplo amicitiarum vetera iura, diuque est quod invicem diligimus ex aequo, porro autem, quod ad communem conscientiam pertinet, tu patronus: quamquam hoc ipsum praesumptiose arroganterque loquar; 2 namque iniquitas mea tanta est, ut mederi de lapsuum eius assiduitate vix etiam tuae supplicationis efficacia queat.
[1] GOD has permitted us to give this generation a new example of what old friendship means; ours indeed is an attachment of long duration, and equal strength upon both sides. But our respective positions are by no means equal: you are the patron and I the client; perhaps, indeed, I presume too far in saying even so much. For so great is my unworthiness, that even the proven efficacy of your intercession can hardly make good my backsliding.
[2] igitur, quia mihi es tam patrocinio quam dilectione bis dominus, pariter et quod memini probe, quo polleas igne sensuum, fonte verborum, qui viderim Modaharium, civem Gothum, haereseos Arianae iacula vibrantem quo tu spiritualium testimoniorum mucrone confoderis, servata ceterorum tam reverentia quam pace pontificum non iniuria tibi defleo, qualiter ecclesiasticas caulas istius aetatis 1 lupus, qui peccatis pereuntium saginatur animarum, clandestino morsu necdum intellecti dentis arrodat.
[2] Because you are doubly my lord and master, firstly as my protector, secondly as my friend; because I so well remember (was I not by?) the flow of your eloquence, springing from that fervent zeal of yours, when you pierced with the point of your spiritual testimonies Modaharius the Goth as he brandished the darts of Arian heresy against you; because of all this, I need fear no charge of disrespect towards other pontiffs when I pour into your ears my grief at the ravages of the great wolf of our times, who ranges about the ecclesiastical fold battening upon lost souls, and biting right and left by stealth and undetected.
[3] namque hostis antiquus, quo facilius insultet balatibus ovium destitutarum, dormitantum prius incipit cervicibus imminere pastorum, neque ego ita mei in eminens non sum, ut nequaquam me hunc esse reminiscar, quem longis adhuc abluenda fletibus conscientia premat; cuius stercora tamen sub ope Christi quandoque mysticis orationum tuarum rastris eruderabuntur. sed quoniam supereminet privati reatris verecundiam publica salus, non verebor, etsi carpat zelum in me fidei sinister interpres, sub vanitatis invidia causam prodere veritatis.
[3] For that old enemy begins by threatening the shepherds’ throats, knowing it the best way to ensure his triumph over the bleating and abandoned sheep. I am not so far oblivious of my own career as to ignore that I am one whose conscience has yet to be washed clean by many tears; but by God’s grace my foulness shall at last be cleared away with the mystic rake of your intercession. But since consideration for the public safety must come before everything, even a man’s sense of his own unworthiness, I shall not hesitate to proclaim the cause of truth, disregarding all insinuations about my vanity, or doubts as to the sincerity of my faith.
[4] Evarix, rex Gothorum, quod limitem regni sui rupto dissolutoque foedere antiquo vel tutatur armorum iure vel pro- movet, nec nobis peccatoribus hic accusare nec vobis sanctis hic discutere permissum est. quin potius, si requiras, ordinis res est, ut et dives hic purpura byssoque veletur et Lazarus hic ulceribus et paupertate feriatur; ordinis res est, ut, dum in hac allegorica versamur Aegypto, Pharao incedat cum diademate, Israelita cum cophino; ordinis res est, ut, dum in hac figuratae Babylonis fornace decoquimur, nos cum Ieremia spiritalem Ierusalem suspiriosis plangamus ululatibus et Assur fastu regio tonans sanctorum sancta proculcet.
[4] Neither a saint like you can fitly here discuss, nor a sinner like myself indict, the action of Euric the Gothic king in breaking and bearing down an ancient treaty to defend, or rather extend by armed force the frontiers of his kingdom. It is the rule here below, for Dives to be clothed in purple and fine linen, and for Lazarus to bear the lash of sores and poverty. So long as we walk in this allegoric land of Egypt, it is the rule that Pharaoh shall go with a diadem on his head, and the Israelite with the carrier’s basket. It is the rule that while we are burned in the furnace of this symbolic Babylon we must sigh and groan like Jeremiah for the spiritual Jerusalem, while Assur thunders in his royal pomp and treads the Holy of Holies beneath his feet.
[5] quibus ego praesentum futurarumque beatitudinum vicissitudinibus inspectis communia patientius incommoda fero; primum, quod mihi quae merear introspicienti, quaecumque adversa provenerint, leviora reputabuntur; dein quod certum scio maximum esse remedium interioris hominis, si in hac area mundi variis passionum flagellis trituretur exterior.
[5] Yet when I compare the transient joys of this world with those which are to come, I find it easier to endure calamities which no mortal may escape. For, firstly, when I consider my own demerits, all possible troubles seem lighter than those which I deserve; and then know well that the best of cures for the inward man is for the outward man to be threshed by the flails of suffering.
[6] sed, quod fatendum est, praefatum regem Gothorum, quamquam sit ob virium merita terribilis, non tam Romanis moenibus quam legibus Christianis insidiaturum pavesco. tantum, ut ferunt, ori, tantum pectori suo catholici mentio nominis acet, ut ambigas ampliusne suae gentis an suae sectae teneat principatum, ad hoc armis poteris acer animis alacer annis hunc solum patitur errorem, quod putat sibi tractatuum consiliorumque successum tribui pro religione legitima, quem potius assequitur pro felicitate terrena.
[6] I must confess that formidable as the mighty Goth may be, I dread him less as the assailant of our walls than as the subverter of our Christian laws. They say that the mere mention of the name of Catholic so embitters his countenance and heart that one might take him for the chief priest of his Arian sect rather than for the monarch of his nation. Omnipotent in arms, keen-witted, and in the full vigour of life, he yet makes this single mistake — he attributes his success in his designs and enterprises to the orthodoxy of his belief, whereas the real cause lies in mere earthly fortune.
[7] propter quod discite cito catholici status valetudinem occultam, ut apertam festinetis adhibere medicinam. Burdigala, Petrogorii, Ruteni, Lemovices, Gabalitani, Helusani, Vasates, Convenae, Auscenses, multoque iam maior numerus civitatum summis sacerdotibus ipsorum morte truncatus nec ullis deinceps episcopis in de-functorum officia suffectis, per quos utique minorum ordinum ministeria subrogabantur, latum spiritalis ruinae limitem traxit, quam fere constat sic per singulos dies morientum patrum proficere defectu, ut non solum quoslibet haereticos praesentum verum etiam haeresiarchas priorum temporum potuerit inflectere: ita populos excessu pontificum orbatos tristis intercisae fidei desperatio premit.
[7] For these reasons I would have you consider the secret malady of the Catholic Church that you may hasten to apply an open remedy. Bordeaux, Périgueux, Rodez, Limoges, Javols, Eauze, Bazas, Comminges, Auch, and many another city are all like bodies which have lost their heads through the death of their respective bishops. No successors have been appointed to fill their places, and maintain the ministry in the lower orders of the Church; the boundaries of spiritual desolation are extended far and wide. Every day the ruin spreads by the death of more fathers in God; so pitiful is her state, that the very heresiarchs of former times, to say nothing of contemporary heretics, might well have looked with pity on peoples orphaned of their pontiffs and oppressed by desperation at this catastrophe of their faith.
[8] nulla in desolatis cura dioecesibus 1 [parochiisque]. 2 videas in ecclesiis aut putres culminum lapsus aut valvarum cardinibus avulsis basilicarum aditus hispidorum veprium fruticibus obstructos. ipsa, pro dolor, videas armenta non modo semipatentibus iacere vestibulis sed etiam herbosa viridantium altarium latera depasci. sed iam nec per rusticas solum solitudo parochias: ipsa insuper urbanarum ecclesiarum conventicula rarescunt.
[8] Diocese and parish lie waste without ministers. You may see the rotten roofs of churches fallen in, the doors unhinged and blocked by growing brambles. More grievous still, you may see the cattle not only lying in the half-ruined porticoes, but grazing beside altars green with weeds. And this desolation is not found in country parishes alone; even the congregations of urban churches begin to fall away.
[9] quid enim fidelibus solacii superest, quando clericalis non modo disciplina verum etiam memoria perit? equidem cum clericus quisque defungitur, si benedictione succidua non accipiat dignitatis heredem, in illa ecclesia sacerdotium moritur, non sacerdos, atque ita quid spei restare pronunties, ubi facit terminus hominis finem religionis? altius inspicite spiritalium damna membrorum: profecto intellegetis, quanti subrepti sunt 3 episcopi, tantorum vobis populorum fidem periclitaturam. taceo vestros Crocum Simpliciumque collegas, quos cathedris sibi traditis eliminatos similis exilii cruciat poena dissimilis, namque unus ipsorum dolet se non videre quo redeat; alter se dolet videre quo non redit.
[9] What comfort remains to the faithful, when not only the teaching of the clergy perishes, but their very memory is lost out of mind? When a priest departs this life, not merely the holder of the sacred office dies, but the office itself dies with him, unless with his failing breath he gives his blessing to a successor. What hope remains when the term of a man’s life implies the end of religion in his parish? If you examine more closely the ills of the body spiritual, you will soon perceive that for every bishop snatched from our midst, the faith of a population is imperilled. I need not mention your colleagues Crocus and Simplicius, removed alike from their thrones and suffering a common exile, if different punishments. For one of them laments that he cannot see whither he is to return; the other that he sees only too clearly where he is to return no more.
[10] tu sacratissimorum pontificum, Leontii Fausti Graeci, urbe ordine caritate medius inveniris; per vos mala foederum currunt, per vos regni utriusque pacta condicionesque portantur, agite, quatenus haec sit amicitiae 1 concordia 2 principalis, 3 ut episcopali ordinatione permissa populos Galliarum, quos limes Gothicae sortis incluserit, teneamus ex fide, etsi non tenemus ex foedere, memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.
[10] You for your part have about you the most holy bishops Faustus, Leontius, and Graecus, environed by the city, your order and their fraternal love. To you these miserable treaties are submitted, the pacts and agreements of two kingdoms pass through your hands. Do your best, as far as the royal condescension suffers you, to obtain for our bishops the right of ordination in those parts of Gaul now included within the Gothic boundaries, that if we cannot keep them by treaty for the Roman State, we may at least hold them by religion for the Roman Church. Deign to bear me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
Sidonius Domino Papae Graeco salutem
VII.
To the Lord Bishop Graecus* A.D. 474-5
[1] Ecce iterum Amantius, nugigerulus noster, Massiliam suam repetit, aliquid, ut moris est, de manubiis civitatis domum reportaturus, si tamen . . . aut 1 cataplus arriserit. per quem ioculariter plura garrirem, si pariter unus idemque valeret animus exercere laeta et tristia sustinere, siquidem nostri hic nunc est infelicis anguli status, cuius, ut fama confirmat misera minus 2 fuit sub bello quam sub pace condicio.
[1] HERE is Amantius, the usual bearer of my trifles; off once more to his Marseilles, to bring home a little profit out of the city, if he is fortunate in his business at the port. I could use the opportunity of his journey to gossip gaily on, if a mind that bears a load of sorrow could at the same time think of cheerful things. For the state of our unhappy region is miserable indeed. Every one declares that things were better in war-time than they are now after peace has been concluded.
[2] facta est servitus nostra pretium securitatis alienae. Arvernorum, pro dolor, servitus, qui, si prisca replicarentur, audebant se quondam fratres Latio dicere et sanguine ab Iliaco populos computare. si recentia memorabuntur, hi sunt, qui viribus propriis hostium publicorum arma remorati sunt; cui saepe populo Gothus non fuit clauso intra moenia formidini, cum vicissim ipse fieret oppugnatoribus positis intra castra terrori. hi sunt, qui sibi adversus vicinorum aciem tam duces fuere quam milites; de quorum tamen sorte certaminum si quid prosperum cessit, vos secunda solata sunt, si quid contrarium, illos adversa fregerunt, illi amore rei publicae Seronatum barbaris provincias propinantem non timuerunt legibus tradere, quem convictum deinceps res publica vix praesumpsit occidere.
[2] Our enslavement was made the price of security for a third party; the enslavement, ah! the shame of it! of those Arvernians who by old tradition claimed brotherhood with Latium and descent from the sons of Troy; who in our own time stood forth alone to stay the advance of the common enemy; who even when closely beset so little feared the Goth that they sallied out against his leaguer, and put the fear of their valour into his heart. These are the men whose common soldiers were as good as captains, but who never reaped the benefit of their victories: that was handed over for your consolation, while all the crushing burden of defeat they had to bear themselves. These are the patriots who did not fear to bring to justice the infamous Seronatus, betrayer of imperial provinces to the barbarian, while the State for which they risked so much had hardly the courage on his conviction to carry out the capital sentence.
