The Patrologia Latina · Volume XII
The Vercelli Gospels
Volume 12 holds one of the oldest Latin gospel books in existence — the Codex Vercellensis, written a generation before Jerome’s Vulgate — with the exile letters of Eusebius of Vercelli, Firmicus Maternus’ demand that the emperors abolish the pagan mysteries, and Philastrius of Brescia’s catalog of one hundred fifty-six heresies. We are translating every one into English.
About this volume
A Bible older than the Vulgate
Before Jerome, the Latin church read its scriptures in the Old Latin versions — and the gospel book kept at Vercelli, by tradition copied in the hand of its first bishop Eusebius, is among the oldest surviving witnesses to that Bible. Its four gospels stand in the old order — Matthew, John, Luke, Mark — with the manuscript’s own gaps preserved. Around it gather Eusebius’ own letters: his note to the emperor Constantius and the long letter from exile at Scythopolis describing his hunger strike against the Arian bishop who held him, with the Trinitarian confession transmitted under his name.
Two polemics complete the volume. Julius Firmicus Maternus — a Sicilian astrologer whose conversion turned him against the religions he once served — addresses On the Error of Profane Religions to the emperors Constantius and Constans, quoting the formulas of the mystery cults of Isis, Cybele, and Mithras in order to demand their abolition; it is our best source for those rites. Philastrius, bishop of Brescia, catalogs one hundred fifty-six heresies from the serpent-worshippers to his own day — the first Latin heresy catalog on that scale, and the book Augustine consulted for his own.
As across the whole project, we translate the original works only, in fresh English, and give them away free to read.
Where to start
Three to begin with
The manuscript
The Gospels of the Codex Vercellensis
Evangelium secundum Codicem Vercellensem
Four gospels in Latin older than the Vulgate — the Bible as the West read it before Jerome.
Read →The polemic
On the Error of Profane Religions
De Errore Profanarum Religionum
A converted astrologer tells two emperors to abolish the mystery cults — quoting their secret formulas as he goes.
Read →The catalog
The Book of Heresies
Liber de Haeresibus
One hundred fifty-six heresies cataloged by a 4th-century bishop — including the opinion that rejecting the Septuagint is one of them.
Read →The contents
6 works
Each is a fresh English translation from the Latin, free to read online, in the order Migne printed them.
- 01
The Old Latin Gospels of the Codex Vercellensis Evangelium secundum Codicem Vercellensem
The oldest surviving Old Latin gospel manuscript, traditionally linked to Eusebius of Vercelli's own hand, in the ancient order Matthew, John, Luke, and Mark.
90 ch. Read free → - 02
Letter to the Emperor Constantius Epistola ad Constantium Imperatorem
A brief, courteous letter in which the exiled bishop tells Constantius he is coming to Milan and will do whatever proves just before God.
1 min Read free → - 03
Letter to the Presbyters and People of Italy Epistola ad Presbyteros et Plebem Italiae
Eusebius of Vercelli's exile letter recounting his brutal detention at the hands of Arian captors in Scythopolis.
12 ch. Read free → - 04
A Confession of Faith on the Trinity De Trinitate Confessio
A creed-form confession of the Trinity and the incarnation, transmitted under the name of Eusebius of Vercelli.
17 ch. Read free → - 05
The Error of the Pagan Religions De Errore Profanarum Religionum
A fourth-century Christian convert catalogs the mystery cults of Egypt, Phrygia, Persia, and Greece, then calls on the emperors to suppress them.
31 ch. Read free → - 06
The Book of Heresies Liber de Haeresibus
A fourth-century catalog of 156 heresies, sweeping from pre-Christian Jewish sects to Arians and Manichaeans, with an unusually broad definition of error.
157 ch. Read free →
Every translation here is free to read, funded by reader donations.
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