Ancient Documents Relating to the History of the Donatists

The Emperors Valentinian and Valens, Augusti, to Julian, Proconsul of Africa. We decree that a bishop who has doubled the sanctity of baptism by illicit usurpation, and has defiled that grace by repeating it contrary to the institutions of all, is unworthy of the priesthood. Given on the 10th day before the Kalends of March, at Trier, in the consulship of Valentinian and Valens, Augusti, for the fourth time.

The Emperors Valens, Gratianus, and Valentinianus, Augusti, to Flavianus, Vicar of Africa. We condemn the error of those who, trampling upon the precepts of the apostles, do not purify but rather defile those who have received the sacraments of the Christian name by yet another baptism, polluting them under the name of a washing. Therefore let your authority command them to desist from their wretched errors, with the churches which they hold contrary to the faith restored to the Catholic Church. For the institutions of those are to be followed who have maintained the Apostolic faith without any alteration of baptism. For we wish nothing else to be enjoined than what the faith of the Gospels and of the apostles and undefiled tradition has preserved: as was also decreed by the divine law of our parents, Constantine, Constantius, and Valentinian.

But many, expelled from the churches, nevertheless rage with hidden fury, unlawfully frequenting large houses or estates: these shall be seized by fiscal confiscation, if they have provided secret places for their accursed doctrine: so that our sanction diminishes nothing from that rule which had been established by the precept formerly given to the Nitentians. But if they love their error, let them cherish it in their own misfortunes and in domestic secrecy, yet alone, men of impious discipline. Given on the 16th day before the Kalends of November, at Constantinople, in the consulship of Gratian Augustus for the fourth time and Merobaudes.

Read at the Council of Carthage of the year 397.

It was also resolved that, since it was established in preceding councils that no Donatist should be received by us with his honor, but in the number of the laity, for the sake of salvation which is to be denied to no one (yet the churches in Africa suffer such a dearth of clergy to be ordained that certain places are entirely desolate), what was already previously believed (alt. Handed down) should indeed be observed in their regard: but with the exception of those who shall have been shown either not to have rebaptized, or who shall have wished to pass over with their congregations to Catholic communion. For thus it is written, that if two Christians agree, whatever they ask they shall obtain. One ought not to doubt that, with the scandal of dissension of the whole congregation removed, by the compensation of invited peace and the sacrifice of charity, those things are abolished which they committed following the authority of their forebears by the repetition of baptism.

But it was resolved that this matter should not be confirmed before the overseas Church is consulted about it.

To their most holy brothers and colleagues established throughout all Africa, that is, throughout the Proconsular Province, Numidia, Mauretania, Byzacena, and Tripolis, and also to the presbyters, deacons, and all the congregations fighting together with us in the truth of the Gospel: Victorinus, Fortunatus, and Victorianus, Migginus, Saturninus, Constantius, Candorius, Innocentius, Cresconius, Florentius, Salvius, another Salvius, Donatus, Geminius, Praetextatus (bishop of Assuras), Maximianus, Theodorus, Anastasius, Donatianus, Donatus, another Donatus, Pomponius, Pancratius, Januarius, Secundinus, Paschasius, Cresconius, Rogatianus, another Maximianus, Benenatus, Gaianus, Victorinus, Guntasius, Quintasius, Felicianus, Salvius, Migginus, Proculus, Latinus, and the others who were with us in the Council at Cabarsussi, eternal salvation in the Lord.

There is no one who does not know, most beloved brothers, that it is the impulse not of their own will but of the divine law that moves the priests of the Lord both to pronounce sentence against the guilty and to remove, by right and deservedly, a sentence unjustly inflicted upon the innocent. For no slight danger will befall whoever either spares the guilty or attempts to destroy the innocent: especially since it is written: the innocent and the just you shall not slay: and by acquittal you shall not acquit the guilty.

Admonished therefore by this precept of the law, it was necessary for us to hear and examine the cause of Primianus—whom the holy congregation of the Carthaginian Church had chosen as bishop for the flock of God—at the request of the elders of that same Church by letter, so that, with all things laid out, we might either clear him as innocent, which would have been desirable, or certainly show him to be condemned by his own deserts as guilty. For it was most desirable to us that the holy congregation of the Carthaginian Church should rejoice in being exalted by such a bishop as would be held holy in all things and blameable in nothing.

For this reason it is altogether fitting that such a one be a priest of the Lord, that what the people could not avail to obtain for themselves before God, he himself might merit to obtain what he asked on behalf of the people: because it is written: if the people shall have sinned, the priest shall pray for them: but if the priest shall have sinned, who shall pray for him?

The scandals of Primianus, therefore, and his singular wickedness, so provoked heavenly judgment upon himself that it was necessary to cut off entirely the author of these crimes: who, newly ordained, pressing the presbyters of the aforesaid congregation into a conspiracy of impious plotting, demanded of them as if by right of entreaty that they consent to the condemnation of four deacons—men of distinction and approved by singular merits, namely Maximianus, Rogatianus, Donatus, and likewise Salganius—and that they unhesitatingly promise him their assent.

When they, stunned by his evil presumption, had rejected the matter by their silence, he did not hesitate to carry out on his own the crime he had devised, going so far as to think that sentence should be pronounced against the deacon Maximianus—a man, as is known to all, innocent—without cause, without accuser, without witness, while he was absent and lying sick in bed: he who had already previously condemned clergy with no dissimilar fury.

For when he was joining the incestuous to holy communion contrary to the law and decrees of all the priests, and when, with the greater part of the congregation resisting, he was also being urged by letters of the most distinguished elders to correct by himself what he had committed, possessed by his own rashness he disdained to amend it. Moved by these things, the elders of the aforesaid Church sent letters and envoys to the whole assembly, by whom they entreated not without tears that we come to them with all urgency; so that, with the charges weighed in the balance and examined, the reputation of the Church might be cleared.

When accordingly we came in accordance with the letters of the aforementioned; he, growing hot after his own fashion, entirely avoided our arrival. Persisting with a wholly rebellious spirit in his stubbornness in evil, he had a multitude of desperate men hired and officials obtained, who besieged the doors of the basilicas to forbid us the ability to enter and to celebrate the solemnities. Whether it befits a bishop to do this, whether it is lawful for Christians to permit it, whether the Gospels declare this—let whoever is a lover or defender of truth prove or judge. For this was inflicted upon us by one who was once our own brother, which an outsider would never have done.

We, all priests of God, with the Holy Spirit present, have decreed that this same Primianus be perpetually condemned from the priestly assembly: first, because he substituted others over living bishops; because he mingled the incestuous with the communion of the saints; because he attempted to bind the presbyters into entering a conspiracy; because he had the presbyter Fortunatus thrown into a sewer when he had assisted the sick with baptism; because he denied communion to the presbyter Demetrius in order to compel him to disown his son; because the same presbyter was rebuked for having received bishops as guests; because the aforesaid Primianus sent a multitude to overturn the homes of Christians; because bishops as well as clergy were besieged and afterwards stoned by his satellites; because elders were beaten in the basilica for taking it ill that the Claudianists were admitted to communion; because he thought innocent clergy ought to be condemned; because he refused to present himself to be heard by us, having blocked the doors of the basilicas with a multitude and an official force to prevent our entry; because he insolently rejected the envoys sent to him by us; because he seized many places first by force, then by judicial authority; besides his other illicit acts which we have passed over in silence for the sake of the dignity of our style: lest, by sparing him, the Church of God be stained either by contagion or by any crime.

Which the apostle Paul also exhorts and admonishes: But we have commanded you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother walking disorderly: and therefore, not unmindful of the purity of the Church, we have judged it expedient to warn by this our tractoria all holy fellow-priests and all clergy and all peoples who remember that they are Christians, that all should carefully shun his communion as that of one condemned. For he himself shall render account of his own destruction, whoever shall attempt to violate this our decree by not heeding it.

It has also pleased us and the Holy Spirit that time be reserved for those slow to convert, under this condition: that whatever fellow-priests or clergy, unmindful of their own salvation, from the day of the condemnation of the aforesaid Primianus, that is from the eighth day before the Kalends of July, until the eighth day before the Kalends of January, shall have been too slow to withdraw from the communion of the condemned Primianus, be bound by such a sentence. Likewise the laity, unless from the aforesaid day of his condemnation they shall have separated themselves from his fellowship before the day of the coming Pascha, no one can be restored to the Church except through penance, if indeed they shall be mindful of it.

Victorinus, bishop of Munaciana, have subscribed. Fortunatus, bishop of Dionysiana, have subscribed. Victorianus, bishop of Carcabiana, have subscribed. Florentius, bishop of Hadrumetum, have subscribed. Migginus, bishop of Elephantaria, have subscribed. Innocentius, bishop of Thebalta, have subscribed. Miggin, on behalf of my colleague Salvius, bishop of Membresa, have subscribed. Salvius, bishop of Ausafa, have subscribed. Donatus, bishop of Sabratha, have subscribed. Gemelius, bishop of Tambeis, have subscribed. Praetextatus, bishop of Assuras, have subscribed. Maximianus, bishop of Stabateus, have subscribed. Datianus, bishop of Camiceta, have subscribed. Donatus, bishop of Fisciana, have subscribed. Theodorus, bishop of Usulum, have subscribed. Victorianus, at the bidding of my colleague Agnosius the bishop, have subscribed. Donatus, bishop of Cebrisa, have subscribed. Natalicus, bishop of Thela, have subscribed. Pomponius, bishop of Macriana, have subscribed. Pancratius, bishop of Baliana, have subscribed. Januarius, bishop of Aquae, have subscribed. Secundus, bishop of Jocundiana, have subscribed. Pascasius, bishop of Vicus Augusti, have subscribed. Cresconius, bishop of Taciana, have subscribed. Rogatianus, bishop, have subscribed. Maximianus, bishop of Erumma, have subscribed. Benenatus, bishop of Tugutiana, have subscribed. Ritanus, bishop, have subscribed.

Gaianus, bishop of Tiguala, have subscribed. Victorinus, bishop of Lepcis Magna, have subscribed. Guntasius, bishop of Benefa, have subscribed. Quintasius, bishop of Capsa, have subscribed. Felicianus, bishop of Mustis, have subscribed. Victorianus, by delegation of the bishop Migginus, have subscribed. Latinus, bishop of Mugia, have subscribed. Proculus, bishop of Girba, have subscribed. Donatus, bishop of Sabratha, on behalf of my brother and colleague Marratius, have subscribed. Proculus of Girba, on behalf of my colleague Gallio, have subscribed. Secundianus, bishop of Prisiana, have subscribed. Helpidius, bishop of Thusdrus, have subscribed. Donatus, bishop of Samurdatum, have subscribed. Getulicus, bishop of Victoriana, have subscribed. Annibonius, bishop of Rabauta, have subscribed. Likewise Annibonius, requested by my colleague Augendus, bishop of Arena, have subscribed. Tertullus, bishop of Abita, have subscribed. Primulianus, bishop, have subscribed. Secundianus, bishop of Aurisiliana, have subscribed. Maximus, bishop of Pitana, have subscribed. Crescentianus, bishop of Murra, have subscribed. Donatus, bishop of Belinia, have subscribed. Perseverantius, bishop of Theveste, have subscribed. Faustinus, bishop of Bina, have subscribed. Victor, bishop of Altiburus, have subscribed. All in number fifty-three.

When, by the will of almighty God and of Christ his Savior our Lord, coming from all the provinces of Africa, we were holding a council in the holy church of Bagaï—Gamalius, Primianus, Pontius, Secundianus, Januarius, Saturninus, Felix, Pegasius, Rufinus, Fortunius, Crispinus, Florentius, Optatus, Donatus, Donatianus, and the others, three hundred and ten in number—it pleased the Holy Spirit who is in us to establish perpetual peace and to cut away sacrilegious schisms.

The longed-for brotherhood of peace and concord is joined together, as it is written: Justice and peace have kissed each other.

For although the channel of a venomous womb long concealed the noxious offspring of a viper's seed, and the moist clots of the conceived crime warmed themselves slowly into the limbs of asps; yet the venom once conceived could not be hidden once the shadow had vanished: for even if late, yet the pregnant vows of crimes brought forth their public deed and their parricide. As was foretold: She travailed with injustice, conceived sorrow, and brought forth iniquity. But since the clear sky now shines out from the cloud, nor is the thicket of crimes confused, since the names have been designated for punishment. For there had been indulgence before: while we extended the line of clemency, the cause found those whom it might punish.

But the truthful wave cast shipwrecked limbs upon the rough rocks of certain men, and after the manner of the Egyptians, the shores are full of the funerals of the perishing: for whom in death itself the punishment is greater, because after their souls have been wrested away by the avenging waters, they cannot even find burial.

Let us speak, dearest brothers, of the causes of the schism: for we can no longer be silent about the persons. The thunderbolt of sentence has driven MAXIMIANUS—rival of the faith, adulterer of truth, enemy of mother Church, minister of Dathan, Core, and Abiron—from the bosom of peace: and the fact that the gaping earth has not yet swallowed him up has reserved him for greater punishment among the living. For one who was seized would have gained his punishment by the shortcut of death; he now collects heavier interest on the usury, living as he does among the dead.

Nor does a just death condemn him alone in his crime. He also draws many into partnership in his guilt by the chain of sacrilege, of whom it is written: The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. We would indeed wish that no one be cut off from the joining of his own body; but since the pestilential rot of a festering wound offers more comfort in excision than in the remission of medicine, a more wholesome remedy has been found, lest the poisonous infection creep through all the members, so that the wound, born of compact suffering, may be cut away.

Know therefore that the guilty of this notorious crime—Victorianus of Carcabia, Martianus of Sullectum, Beianus of Baia, Salvius of Ausafa, Theodorus of Usula, Donatus of Sabratha, Miggens of Elephantaria, Praetextatus of Assura, Salvius of Membresa, Valerius of Melzi, Felicianus of Mustis, and Martialis of Pertusa, who by their deadly work, as a foul vessel of perdition, gathered and bound together the dregs—but also certain clerics formerly of the Church of Carthage, who, by participating in an unlawful act, furnished the means for an abomination—have been condemned by the judgment of the presiding God, by the truthful voice of the universal council. But those whom the offshoots of sacrilege did not defile—that is, those who withdrew their own hands from the head of Maximianus with a modest sense of shame for the faith—we have permitted to return to mother Church.

It pleased the council by decree, however, to grant a period of time within which, if anyone wished to be corrected, he should be held innocent. For as much as we are cleansed by the death of the guilty, so much do we rejoice at the return of the innocent.

And lest the pressure of a narrow day rob those returning of the hope of salvation by confining the time; for all who acknowledge, however far away they may be dwelling, in accordance with the preceding statutes, we open the door of acknowledgment to all until the eighth day before the Kalends of January next to come, so that those who return may have the foundation of unimpaired honor and faith: but if anyone shall have been unable to enter it through sluggish inertia, let him know that the way to all merciful approaches has been withdrawn by his own will. For the sentence pronounced shall remain in force against them, and for those returning after the appointed day a fixed penance shall stand.

Given at Bagai in Numidia, the eighth day before the Kalends of May, after the consulship of Theodosius Augustus III, in the consulship of the Augusti Arcadius III and Honorius for the second time. 310 Bishops were present.

After the consulship of the lords Arcadius III and Honorius again, Augusti, on the sixth day before the Nones of March, at Carthage in the secretarium of the praetorium, Titianus said: "Peregrinus the presbyter and the elders of the Church of the Mustitane region pursue a petition of this kind. When Donatus, a man of venerable memory, was asserting the holiness of the catholic Church against the error of perfidy, the observance of nearly the whole world, nurtured in his name and worship, grew and coalesced. But when the poisons of a certain Maximianus were polluting the praiseworthy and admirable purpose of that religion, an assembly of many bishops, gathered together in one accord by God, condemned the man—or rather the plague, which displeased the heavenly majesty—also by the restraint proper to a pure mind.

"Those also whom the error of another's presumption had drawn away, it restrained with equal force of admonition, offering first the harbor of repentance, if they wished to return within the time appointed for the path of religion. But iniquity delights in its own ways, and does not abandon itself once it has fallen headlong. For that same Maximianus nurtures the audacity he has begun, and associates others with himself in his frenzy.

"Among whom also a certain Felicianus, who at first followed the right path, having been tainted by the contamination of this depravity, stationed in the city of Mustis, believed that the walls consecrated to almighty God and the venerable Church were to be held as if under a kind of siege.

"Praetextatus also imitates him in the region of Assura. But when the power of your equity became known to the fellowship of priests, you commanded, as the records attest, that with every effect of contradiction expelled, the most sacred churches ought to be restored, vindicated from profane minds, to the most holy priests."

Concerning the Donatists, it was resolved that we consult our brothers and fellow-priests Siricius (bishop of Rome) and Simplicianus (of Milan), regarding only those infants who are baptized among them, lest, when they have been converted to the Church of God with a wholesome purpose, the error of their parents—which they did not commit by their own judgment—hinder them from being promoted to ministers of the holy altar.

We decree that whoever shall be found among heretical errors either to have ordained clerics or to have received the office of clerics shall be fined ten pounds of gold each. The place indeed in which forbidden acts are attempted shall, if the connivance of the owner is evident, be added to the resources of our treasury. But if it shall be established that the owner was ignorant of it, since it was done secretly, we order that his tenant of that estate, if he is freeborn, shall pay ten pounds of gold to our treasury; if he is of servile stock and despises the penalty of loss and disgrace through his poverty, he shall be punished by flogging and condemned to deportation. We further take special precaution that if the estate shall be an imperial one, or of any public jurisdiction, and the tenant and steward shall have given permission for the gathering, they shall be punished with a fine of ten pounds of gold each as the proposed condemnation.

But if any persons shall now be found to comply with such mysteries and to usurp for themselves the name of clerics, we order that ten pounds of gold be exacted from each individual and paid. Given on the 17th day before the Kalends of July, at Constantinople, in the consulship of Arcadius III and Rufinus.

The Emperors ARCADIUS and HONORIUS, Augusti, to Theodorus, Prefect of the Praetorium. If anyone shall have broken out into this kind of sacrilege, so as to burst into catholic churches and inflict some injury upon priests and ministers, or upon the worship itself and the place, let what is done be brought to the notice of the authorities by letters of the orders, magistrates, and curators, and by the reports of the attendants whom they call Stationarii, in such a way that the names of those who could be identified are declared: and if it shall be said to have been committed by a multitude, even if not all, yet some can be identified, by whose confession the names of their associates may be made public. And thus let the governor of the province know that the injury done to priests and ministers of the catholic Church, to the place itself, and to divine worship, is to be avenged by capital sentence upon those convicted or confessed as guilty.

Nor let him wait for the bishop to demand vengeance for his own injury, since sanctity has left him the sole glory of forgiving. And let it be not only permitted but also praiseworthy for all to prosecute, as a public crime, atrocious injuries inflicted upon priests or ministers, and to obtain vengeance upon such guilty persons. But if a violent multitude cannot be brought before the civil apparitors and with the support of the orders and landowners, because it defends itself by arms or by the difficulty of the terrain, let the judges of Africa, by sending letters to the distinguished man the Count of Africa, setting forth the tenor of this law, demand the support of an armed force, so that the guilty of such crimes may not escape. Given on the 7th day before the Kalends of May, at Milan, in the consulship of Honorius III and Eutychianus.

The Emperors ARCADIUS and HONORIUS, Augusti, to Hadrianus, Prefect of the Praetorium. The rescript which the Donatists are said to have obtained from Julian, then Prince, we wish to be set forth by a posted notice in the most frequented places, and the records in which this allegation has been inserted to be appended: so that it may become known to all, both the established constancy of catholic confidence and the desperate perfidy of the Donatists. Given on the 5th day before the Kalends of March, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus.

After the consulship of Flavius Stilicho, most distinguished man, on the 14th (or 16th) day before the Kalends of July, at Carthage in the secretarium of the Basilica Restituta, when bishop Aurelius had taken his seat together with his bishops, with deacons standing by, bishop Aurelius said: "Your charity, most holy brothers, knows together with me most well the needs of the Churches of God established throughout Africa.

And since the Lord has granted that the judgment of your holy assembly might be gathered in some part, it seems to me that we should bring forward into the open these same needs which we have been able to investigate through our solicitude: and when your sincerity has approved them, it follows that one of our number, a fellow-priest, must be chosen, who, with the Lord's help and your prayers, may be able both to take up these same needs and to fulfill them by carrying them out diligently, proceeding to the transmarine parts of Italy, so that he may be able to make known this very need and our grief and want both to our holy brothers and fellow-priests, to the venerable holy brother Anastasius, bishop of the apostolic see, and also to the holy brother Venerius, priest of the Church of Milan (for this had been forbidden from those sees); so that they may know that provision must be made for the common peril: especially because the want of clerics is so great, and many churches are so deserted that they are found not to have even one deacon, even an unlettered one.

For concerning the other higher grades and offices I think silence must be kept: because, as I said, if the ministry of a deacon is not easily found, it is most certain that those of higher honors can even less be found. And we can no longer endure the daily lamentations of the various nearly dead congregations: unless some relief is at some point provided for them, a grave and inexcusable cause of the perishing of innumerable souls will remain against us before God.

"Wherefore, since your unanimity recognizes together with me that it was decreed in the previous council that those who were baptized as infants among the Donatists, not yet being able to know the destruction of their error, and afterwards, when they had reached an age capable of reason, having recognized the truth and abhorring their falsehood, were received into the catholic Church of God spread throughout the whole world by the ancient order through the laying on of hands—that the name of error ought not to impede such persons from receiving the gift of the clerical office, since they believed they were coming to the true Church when they approached in faith, and there believed in Christ, and received the sacraments of the Trinity; all of which are most certainly true and holy and divine, and in these all the hope of the soul is established.

Although even the presumptuous audacity of heretics, veiled under the name of truth, dares to hand on these things, which, since they are simple, as the blessed apostle forewarns by saying, one God, one faith, one baptism, and since what ought to be given once may not be repeated, are received with the name of error anathematized through the laying on of hands into the one Church, the dove, as it is said, and the one mother of all Christians, where all those sacraments are received wholesomely and eternally and vitally: which for those persevering in heresy bring about a great penalty of damnation, so that what would have been most luminous for them in truth for attaining eternal life, is in error most dark and damnable.

Fleeing this, some, recognizing the breasts of mother Church, who believed and received all those holy mysteries out of love of truth—to whom, when the probity of a good life has been added to the matter of the Sacraments, there is no one who does not concede that such persons ought without doubt to be admitted to the office of the clerical order, and especially in so great a necessity of affairs. Although some clerics of that same sect, together with their congregations and their honors, desire to come over to us, who out of love of honor either persuade toward life or retain toward salvation. But this I judge must be left to the greater consideration of the aforementioned brothers, so that when they have weighed the words of our suggestion with their wiser counsel, they may deign to inform us what pleases them in this matter. We are concerned only about those who were baptized as infants, that they may, if it please them, consent to our will in ordaining the same.

Let your honorable fraternity therefore weigh together with me that all the things which we have set forth above are to be transacted before the holy bishops.

In the consulship of Vincentius and Flavitus, most distinguished men, on the Ides of September, at Carthage in the secretarium of the Basilica Restituta, when we bishops from all the African provinces had assembled in council in the Church of Carthage and taken our seats—that is, Aurelius, bishop of that see, together with his colleagues, as their subscription makes manifest—after the letters of our most blessed brother and fellow-priest Anastasius, bishop of the Roman Church, had been read, by which he exhorted us with the solicitude and sincerity of paternal and fraternal charity not to dissemble in any way concerning the snares and wickedness of the heretics and schismatics the Donatists, by which they grievously vex the African catholic Church: we give thanks to our Lord, that he has deigned to inspire that excellent and holy bishop of his with so pious a care for the members of Christ, though established in diversity of lands, yet in the one frame of the body.

Then, after all things which seemed to be of benefit to the Church had been thoroughly discussed and considered, with the Spirit of God assenting and admonishing, we chose to deal gently and peacefully with the aforementioned persons, though cut off from the unity of the Lord's body by restless dissension: so that, as far as in us lies, it may become thoroughly known to all who are entangled in their communion and fellowship throughout all the African provinces, in what miserable error they are bound: lest perhaps, as the Apostle says, while we correct with gentleness those who think differently, God may grant them repentance to acknowledge the truth, and they may recover themselves from the snares of the devil, having been taken captive by him to his will.

Therefore it was resolved that letters from our council should be given to the African judges, from whom it seemed fitting to request this, that they assist the common mother the Catholic Church in that matter whereby episcopal authority can be strengthened (al. Contemned) in the cities; that is, that by judicial power and diligence, out of Christian faith, they inquire what was done in all places in which the Maximianists held basilicas—those who made a schism from them—and cause this to be attached to the public records for the sake of firm knowledge necessary to all.

Then it was resolved that letters be sent to our brothers and fellow bishops, and especially to the apostolic see, over which presides our aforementioned venerable brother and colleague Anastasius, so that he may know that Africa has great need, for the sake of the peace and benefit of the Church, that from among the Donatists themselves, whatever clergy shall have wished, with corrected counsel, to pass over to Catholic unity, be received in their honors according to the will and counsel of each individual Catholic bishop who governs the Church in that same place, if this shall have seemed to profit Christian peace; just as (V. August. Epist. 43, n. 16, et Epist. 185, n. 44 et 47) it is manifest to have been done in the earlier times of that same division: as the examples of many and nearly all the African Churches, in which such error arose, attest. Not that the council (V. Eamdem Epist. 185, n.

45) which was held in the transmarine regions concerning this matter be dissolved: but that it remain in force regarding those who wish to pass over to the Catholic Church in such a way that no compensation (al. Cutting away) of unity is procured through them. But as for those through whom Catholic unity in the places where they dwell has been seen to be either wholly accomplished or aided by manifest gains of fraternal souls, let not that which was decreed against their honors in the transmarine council (though salvation is closed off to no one) stand against them—that is, that those ordained in the party of Donatus, if corrected they wish to pass over to the Catholic Church, are not to be received in their honors according to the transmarine council—save for those through whom the Catholic unity is served.

Then it was resolved that, these things having been accomplished, legates also for the proclaiming of peace and unity—without which Christian salvation cannot be obtained—be sent from our number to the Donatists themselves, whether to those they have as bishops or to their congregations, through whom it may be brought to the knowledge of all how little they have that they can justly say against the Catholic Church: especially so that it may be made manifest to all through municipal records as well, for the firmness of the documents, what they themselves did concerning their schismatic Maximianists.

Whereby it is shown to them by divine providence, if they are willing to attend, that those men were then as unjustly cut off from the unity of the Church as they now unjustly cry out that the Maximianists made a schism from them: and yet from their number those whom they had condemned by the authority of their own plenary council (of Bagaï), they received back into their honors, they accepted the baptism which those condemned and excluded men had given: so that they may see how with foolish heart they resist the peace of the Church spread throughout the whole world, when they do these things on behalf of the party of Donatus; and say that they are not contaminated by the communion of those whom they thus received back for the sake of peace, yet contend (al. Condemn, or despise) us—that is, the Catholic Church established even in the uttermost parts of the earth—as defiled through the communion of those whom they were then unable to convict when accusing them.

Concerning Maximianus of Bagaï, moreover, it was resolved that letters be given from the council both to him and to the congregation itself, so that he himself depart from the episcopate, and they seek another for themselves.

Bishop Aurelius said: "What has come under the consideration of your charity, I think must be confirmed by ecclesiastical records. For the profession of all of you has declared this: that each one of us ought in his own city to meet personally with the leaders of the Donatists, or to join to himself a neighboring colleague, so that together they may meet them in each and every city or place through the magistrates or elders of the places. If this pleases all, let it be proclaimed." By all the bishops it was said: "It pleases all, and we have all confirmed this by our subscription. We ask also that your holiness subscribe on behalf of all to the letters to be sent from the council to the judges." Bishop Aurelius said: "If it seems good to your charity, let the form of their convening be read aloud, so that all of us, if it shall please, may follow this tenor of the proceeding." By all the bishops it was said: Let it be read.

Laetus the notary read it aloud.

The bishop of the Church said: "What we have obtained by the authority of that most eminent see, we ask that your gravity cause to be read aloud and attached to the records, and brought into effect. But when the order has been read aloud and attached to the acts, let the bishop of the Catholic Church say: Deign to hear the mandate to be conveyed to the Donatists through your gravity, and to insert it in the acts, and to convey it to them, and again to make known to us their response before your records. We have come to you, sent by the authority of our catholic council, desiring to rejoice in your correction, considering the love of the Lord, who said: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God: and who admonished through the prophet that even to those who say they are not our brothers, we ought to say: You are our brothers.

This peaceable admonition of ours, therefore, coming from charity, you ought not to despise, so that if you think you hold anything of truth, you should not hesitate to assert it; that is, that having assembled your council you choose from among yourselves those to whom you may commit the cause of your assertion; so that we may be able to do this, that also from our council there be chosen those who, with those whom you have chosen, at an appointed place and time, may discuss with peace whatever question it is that separates your communion from ours; and that at last, with our Lord God helping, the long-standing error may receive its end, lest on account of the stubbornness of men, weak souls and ignorant peoples perish in sacrilegious dissension.

For if you receive this in a brotherly spirit, the truth will easily come to light: but if you shall be unwilling to do this, your want of confidence will easily become known." And when it had been read aloud, by all the bishops it was said: "It is sufficiently pleasing; let this be done," and they subscribed: I, Aurelius, bishop of the Church of Carthage, have consented to this decree and subscribed to it as read aloud: and likewise the other bishops subscribed.

We petition your equity, Septiminus, most illustrious man, most eminent of proconsuls. The Catholic Church endures many things against divine and human laws from the heretics of the party of Donatus, which if we wished to demand be prohibited and removed by either earlier or more recent imperial commands, they would by no means dare to complain about our actions, knowing that, when aided by no such law, they nevertheless took care to have their own schismatics the Maximianists driven out and expelled from their places and seats by orders of judges. Nevertheless, we, consulting peacefully for their salvation and our own good repute, on account of the charity by which we are Christians, wish to admonish them gently, so that they may not neglect to consider and acknowledge their error: or if they think they hold something of truth, let them defend it not by the furious violence of the Circumcellions against public peace, but by the tranquil rendering of reason.

Wherefore we petition your sublimity that, when we shall wish to admonish them concerning this matter through the magistrates, whether in the cities or in the territories belonging to them, you command that access to the records be afforded us and that they be honorably summoned on our allegation: having obtained which, we shall render to your excellency abundant thanks before God. Given by all the Catholic bishops from the Council of Carthage, in the consulship of our Lord Theodosius PP. Augustus and Rumoridus V.C. On the Ides of September, at Carthage.

Septiminus, most illustrious man, proconsul, said: "In whatever place the faculty of drawing up records is granted to the ministers of the venerable law for the sake of the command of peace: this also being limited by the tenor of this order, so that they may understand that they must render to those who healthfully petition the reasonings of their own persuasion—the masters (f. Magistri, that is, the bishops of the Donatists, to the petitioning Catholics) of the straying people—so that, with matters brought into the open, the friendly moderation of the law may be preserved, superstition having been suppressed."

Instructions for the brothers Theasius and Evodius, legates sent from the Council of Carthage to the most glorious and most religious princes. With the Lord's help let them approach the most pious emperors, to make known to them how, in full confidence according to the council of the previous year, the leaders of the Donatists were summoned before municipal records, so that if they were confident in their assertions, having chosen from their number some suitable persons, they might confer with us peacefully, and with Christian gentleness not hesitate to demonstrate, if they held anything of truth: whereby the Catholic sincerity, which had already long since shone forth in earlier times, might now also become known to those resisting through ignorance or stubbornness; but because they were weighed down by want of confidence, they dared to respond almost nothing.

Wherefore, since the episcopal and peaceable duty has been fulfilled toward them, and those who were unable to respond to the truth have turned to savage violence: so much so that they have laid ambushes for many bishops and many clergy (to say nothing of the laity), have invaded some churches, and have attempted to invade others, it is now for their clemency to take counsel, so that the Catholic Church, which bore them in Christ with religious womb and nourished them with firmness of faith, may also be fortified by their protection, lest reckless men in these religious times prevail by terrifying weak peoples: since they are unable to corrupt them by seduction.

For the detestable band of the Circumcellions, in their fury, is well known and has often been denounced by laws, and has been condemned by the frequent sanctions of those same most religious princes aforesaid, against whose fury we could seek aids that are neither unusual nor foreign to the holy Scriptures, since the Apostle Paul, as is known to the faithful in the Acts of the Apostles, also repelled the conspiracy of the factious with military assistance. But we ask this: that protection be provided without any dissimulation to the Catholic orders of the Churches (al. Churches of the orders), through the individual cities, and to the possessions of neighboring landowners in various places.

At the same time it must also be requested that they command that law, which was promulgated by their father Theodosius of religious memory concerning ten pounds of gold against those who ordain or are ordained as heretics, and also against possessors on whose property their assembly is detected, to be henceforth confirmed in such a way that it be valid against those against whom Catholics, provoked by their ambushes, shall have lodged a formal complaint, so that at least by this terror they may desist from schismatic or heretical wickedness, those who disdain to be amended and corrected by consideration of eternal punishment. It must also be requested that the law which grants to heretics the faculty of receiving or leaving anything either by donations or by testaments be likewise sought from their piety to this extent, that it take away from those who, blinded by the fury of stubbornness, shall have wished to persist in the error of the Donatists, the right of leaving or receiving.

But for those who, out of consideration of unity and peace, shall have wished to correct themselves, let access to receiving an inheritance be open without the prohibition of this law; if anything by way of donation or inheritance has accrued to those still established in heretical error, with the exception, however, of those who, having been pressed by a lawsuit, shall have thought it time to pass over to the Catholic Church, because concerning such persons it is credible that they have preferred Catholic unity not so much out of fear of heavenly judgment as out of greed for earthly advantage. For all these matters, moreover, the support of the powers of whatever provinces is needed; and indeed for the benefit of the Church, we decree the legation free to act and command whatever they shall have understood to be of profit.

Furthermore, this has pleased all of us: that letters from our assembly be directed to the most glorious emperors and the most eminent powers, by which they may be informed by the consent of all of us that legates have been sent by us to the most blessed court. But because it would be most slow for the same letters to be subscribed by all individually, lest the same epistles be burdened with the subscriptions of each one, we ask, brother Aurelius, that your charity deign to subscribe to the same in the name of all of us. And they subscribed: I, Aurelius, bishop of the Church of Carthage, have consented to this decree and subscribed: and likewise the other bishops subscribed. Letters must also be sent to the judges, so that until the Lord permits the legates to return to us, they may provide protection through the orders of the cities and the possessions of the estates of the Catholic Church.

It must also be added concerning Equitius, that his shamelessness, by which he most shamelessly claims for himself the right of priests, be repelled from the diocese of Hippo Diarrhytorum according to the statutes of the emperors. Letters of commendation for the legates must also be sent to the Bishop of the Roman Church, or to others wherever the emperor may be. And they subscribed. Likewise I, Aurelius, bishop of the Church of Carthage, have consented to this decree and subscribed to it as read aloud: and likewise the other bishops subscribed.

Let no one call to mind a Manichean, let no one call to mind a Donatist, who especially (as we have learned) do not cease to rage: let there be one Catholic veneration; let there be one salvation: let the equal, mutually consonant holiness of the Trinity be sought. But if anyone dare to mix himself in forbidden and illicit things, let him not escape the snares both of the innumerable constitutions of the past and of the law recently issued by our clemency: and if crowds chance to assemble, let him not doubt that the sharper goads of a more severe commotion are to be drawn out against those who have stirred up sedition. Given on the day before the Ides of February, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Stilicho II and Anthemius.

The Emperors Arcadius, Honorius, and Theodosius, Augustuses. We do not permit the erring errors of those who rebaptize. Given on the day before the Ides of February, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Stilicho II and Anthemius.

The Emperors Arcadius, Honorius, and Theodosius, Augustuses, to Hadrianus, Praetorian Prefect. We have provided by the authority of this decree to root out the adversaries of the Catholic faith. And therefore we have determined by a new constitution that that sect should be specially forbidden, which, lest it be called a heresy, bore the name of schism. For those who are called Donatists are said to have advanced so far in wickedness that they repeat the most holy baptism, with the mysteries trampled underfoot, by harmful presumption, and have infected with the pollution of profane repetition men once washed, as has been handed down, by the gift of divinity. Thus it came about that heresy was born from schism. Thence a flattering error invites credulous minds to the hope of a second pardon. For it is easy to persuade sinners that the forgiveness previously granted can be granted again; and if it can be conceded a second time in the same manner, we do not understand why it should be denied a third time.

These men also defile slaves or persons subject to their own authority with the sacrilege of repeated baptism. Wherefore by this law we decree that whoever hereafter shall be detected as having rebaptized shall be brought before the judge who presides over the Province, so that, punished by the confiscation of all his property, he shall pay the penalty of destitution, by which he shall be afflicted in perpetuity. So that for their children, if they dissent from the wickedness of their father's association, what belonged to their father shall not be lost; and if perhaps the cruelty of their father's depravity has entangled them, and they prefer now to return to the Catholic religion, the abundance of acquiring those goods shall not be denied to them.

Moreover, those places or estates which shall hereafter be found to have provided concealment for deadly sacrileges shall be applied to the resources of the treasury: provided however that the master or mistress is proved to have been present or to have given consent: upon whom indeed the brand of infamy shall also be marked by sentence. But if it is proved that such a crime was carried on in the house without their knowledge, through a tenant or their agent, the prejudgment of confiscation of the estates being suspended, the authors of the crime in which they were implicated, restrained with lead weights, shall receive exile, in which they shall be afflicted for the whole of their life.

And lest it should perhaps be permitted to conceal the consciousness of a sin committed within domestic walls in secret silence, to those who shall perhaps be compelled to be rebaptized, let there be the faculty of fleeing to the Catholic Church, so that by its protection against the authors of this crime and association, they may be defended by the protection of the liberty granted to them, and it shall be lawful for them under this condition to preserve the faith which the masters have attempted to extort from the unwilling. Nor ought the defenders of Catholic doctrine to be bound to crime by the law in the same way as others who are placed in a position of power; and it is especially fitting that all men without any distinction of condition or status should be guardians of the sanctity infused from heaven.

But let those know who have not feared to repeat baptism at the instigation of the aforesaid, or who by consenting have condemned this crime by their own mingling with this association, that not only the power of making a will, but also of acquiring anything under the guise of a gift, or of conducting contracts, is denied to them in perpetuity, unless they shall have corrected the error of their depraved mind by returning to the true faith with an amendment of purpose. Let an equal penalty likewise constrain those who have shown connivance at the forbidden assemblies or ministries of the aforementioned: so that the governors of provinces, if they shall have thought fit to lend their consent in contempt of this sanction, shall know that they are to be punished with a fine of twenty pounds of gold. Their offices also are to be subjected to a similar condemnation.

The leading men or defenders of cities, unless they shall have carried out what we command, or if violence shall have been inflicted upon the Catholic Church in their presence, shall know that they are liable to the same fine. Given on the day before the Ides of February, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Stilicho for the second time and Anthemius.

The Emperors Arcadius, Honorius, and Theodosius, Augustuses, to Hadrianus, Praetorian Prefect.

Lest the secret practices of the Donatists violate the divine grace, polluted under repeated baptism, we abolish also the opportunity of deception by the severity of this command. Decreeing that the rest of the penalty shall follow such men, and that they shall experience the avenging censure of the law, who shall have committed anything against the Catholic religion with perverse doctrine. We therefore command: That if anyone hereafter shall be detected as having rebaptized, he shall be brought before the judge who presides over the Province, so that, punished by the confiscation of all his property, he shall pay the penalty of destitution. Given on the day before the Ides of February, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Stilicho and Anthemius.

The Emperors Arcadius, Honorius, and Theodosius, Augustuses, to Diotimius, Proconsul of Africa.

The edict which our clemency has directed concerning Unity throughout the African regions, we wish to be posted in various places, so that it may be made known to all that the one and true Catholic faith of almighty God, which right belief confesses, is to be maintained. Given on the third day before the Nones of March, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Stilicho for the second time and Anthemius.

That because unity has been achieved at Carthage alone, letters should also be given to the judges, so that they may order effort to be expended upon unity in the other provinces and cities as well. That acts of thanksgiving from the Church of Carthage on behalf of all Africa, concerning the exclusion of the Donatists, should be sent to the imperial court together with letters from the bishops. The letters of Pope Innocent were read: that bishops ought not readily to travel overseas; which is confirmed by the opinions of the bishops themselves. That for the purpose of giving thanks and for the exclusion of the Donatists, two clerics of the Church of Carthage should be sent to the imperial court.

The Emperors Arcadius, Honorius, and Theodosius, Augustuses, to their Diotimius, Greeting.

We decree that the heretics of the Donatist superstition, in whatever place, whether confessing or convicted, shall pay the due penalty without delay, with the tenor of the law observed. Given on the sixth day before the Ides of December, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Stilicho for the second time and Anthemius.

That those congregations which have been converted from the Donatists and have had bishops, should without doubt, without consulting the council, deserve to have them: but those congregations which have had a bishop, and upon his death shall wish not to have their own bishop but to belong to the diocese of some bishop, this should not be denied to them. It was also suggested that those congregations which, before the law of the emperors concerning unity was passed, whatever bishops converted to the Catholic faith, those same bishops ought to retain them: but from the law of unity onwards, it is fitting that all Churches should claim for themselves Catholic bishops of those places to which the places belonged under the heretics, whether of those converted to the Catholic faith or of heretics not converted, and the dioceses, and whatever instruments of the Church there may be, or pertaining to its right. But those who have usurped anything, after the law, when summoned shall restore what was usurped.

The Emperors Arcadius, Honorius, and Theodosius, Augustuses, to Porfyrius, Proconsul of Africa. Although punishment is wont to cleanse crimes, we nevertheless wish to correct the depraved wills of men by an admonition to repentance.

Whoever therefore of the heretics (whether they be Donatists, or Manichaeans, or of any other depraved opinion and sect), gathered together in profane rites, shall have received with simple confession the Catholic faith and its merit (which we desire all men to observe), even though they may have nourished so inveterate an evil by long and prolonged deliberation that they appear liable even under the laws previously enacted; nevertheless we decree that these, as soon as they shall have confessed God with simple piety, are to be absolved from all guilt: so that for every charge, whether contracted before or afterwards (which we do not wish) contracted, even if the penalty seems especially to press upon the guilty, it shall suffice for abolition to have condemned the error by one's own judgment, and to have embraced the name of almighty God, sought even amid dangers themselves: Because the aid of religion, invoked in misery, ought nowhere to be absent.

Therefore, just as we command the earlier laws which we have enacted for the destruction of sacrilegious minds to be pressed with full effect of execution, so we decree that those who have preferred the confession of simple faithful religion, though late, are not to be held by the laws that have been given. These things we have enacted so that all may know that vengeance is not absent from the profane pursuits of men, and that the support of the laws is also present to overflow into right worship. Given on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of December, at Rome, in the consulship of Honorius for the seventh time and Theodosius II, Augustuses.

The same Augustuses to Curtius, Praetorian Prefect. All things which have been decreed by us against the Donatists (who are also called Montenses), the Manichaeans, or the Priscillianists, or against the Gentiles, by the authority of general laws, we decree not only to remain in force, but to be brought to fullest execution and effect: so that buildings also, both of these and of the Coelicolae as well (who hold assemblies of some new doctrine I know not what), shall be claimed by the Churches. Moreover the penalty proposed by law ought to hold as if convicted those who shall have confessed themselves to be Donatists, or who shall have shunned the communion of Catholics under the pretext of a cruel religion, even though they simulate being Christians. Given on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of December, at Rome, in the consulship of Bassus and Philippus.

The same Augustuses. The new and unaccustomed audacity of the Donatist heretics and of the Jews has revealed itself, in that they wish to disturb the sacraments of the Catholic faith. Lest this pestilence and contagion spread and flow more widely. Against those therefore who shall have attempted anything contrary and adverse to the Catholic sect, we command that the punishment of just chastisement be inflicted. Given on the eighth day before the Kalends of December, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Bassus and Philippus.

The same Augustuses to Theodorus, Praetorian Prefect, for the second time. Let the watchfulness of the Defensors, the Curiales, and all the offices guard that no one within any city, or in any secret part of the territory, who dissents from the priest of the Catholic Church, shall have the faculty of unlawful assembly. We also decree that those very places shall be joined to public right, with every excuse set aside, and that those who dare to dispute and assert what divine institution condemns shall be driven into exile under proscription. Given on the fifth day before the Kalends of December, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Bassus and Philippus.

The same Augustuses to Theodorus, Praetorian Prefect, for the second time. After other matters. Lest the Donatists, or the vanity of the other heretics, and the error of others whom the practice of Catholic communion cannot persuade, the Jews, and the Gentiles (whom the common people call Pagans), should suppose that the provisions of the laws previously given against them have grown lukewarm, let all judges know that they must obey their commands with faithful devotion: and among the foremost things, let them not doubt that whatever we have decreed against them is to be carried out. But if any of the judges shall have omitted the execution of the present law in place of connivance, let him know that, having lost his dignity, he will undergo the more severe displeasure of our clemency. His office also, which shall have failed in its duty of suggesting what is necessary for its own safety, shall be punished, with three of its chief members punished, by a condemnation of twenty pounds of gold.

The councils also and the Duumviri, if in their own cities or territories they shall have kept silent about any such thing committed, in favor of the guilty, shall know that they are to undergo the penalty of deportation and the loss of their own property. Given on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of February, at Ravenna, in the consulship of Honorius for the seventh time and Theodosius III, Augustuses.

With the oracle entirely removed, by which heretical superstitions had crept into their rites, let all enemies of the holy law know that they are to be punished with the penalty both of proscription and of blood, if they shall hereafter attempt to assemble in public with the execrable presumption of their crime. Given on the eighth day before the Kalends of September, in the consulship of Varanes, distinguished man.