The Patrologia Latina · Volume IV
Cyprian of Carthage
Volume 4 is Cyprian’s own volume: the treatises he wrote as bishop of Carthage through persecution and plague — On the Unity of the Church, On the Lapsed, On Mortality — together with the great collection of his letters and the anonymous works that traveled under his name. We are translating every one into English.
About this volume
A bishop’s working library
Cyprian led the church of Carthage from 248 to 258 AD, through the Decian persecution, a plague that emptied the city, two schisms, and the baptismal controversy with Rome. The treatises in this volume are the works he wrote to steer his people through those years: On the Lapsed for the Christians who had given way under persecution, On the Unity of the Church against the schisms that followed, On Mortality when the plague came, and On the Lord’s Prayer, Works and Almsgiving, and The Dress of Virgins for the ordinary discipline of Christian life.
Alongside them stands the letter collection — Cyprian’s correspondence with his clergy, with Rome, and with bishops across Africa — the richest surviving archive of how a third-century church was actually governed. The volume closes with works of uncertain authorship that the manuscript tradition handed down among Cyprian’s writings, from early treatises on discipline to the Coena Cypriani, a banquet of biblical characters.
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 landmark
On the Unity of the Church
De Unitate Ecclesiae
The most influential treatise on the Church written before Nicaea — the source of "no salvation outside the Church."
Read →The archive
The Letters of Cyprian
Epistolae
Eighty-odd letters between Carthage, Rome, and the African bishops — a third-century church in its own words.
Read →The consolation
On Mortality
De Mortalitate
Written while plague emptied Carthage: why Christians do not fear the dying around them, or their own.
Read →The contents
27 works
Each is a fresh English translation from the Latin, free to read online, in the order Migne printed them.
- 01
The Letters of Cyprian and His Correspondents Epistolae I-LXXXIII et Epistolae sublestae fidei III
The complete surviving correspondence of Cyprian of Carthage, tracing persecution, plague, schism, and his own path to martyrdom letter by letter.
61 ch. Read free → - 02
The Dress of Virgins Liber de Habitu Virginum
Cyprian of Carthage counsels the Church's consecrated virgins that true adornment is modesty and charity, not gold, dye, or costly dress.
25 ch. Read free → - 03
On the Lapsed Liber de Lapsis
Cyprian's anguished response to the Decian persecution, charting how the Church should receive Christians who fell away and sought too easy a way back.
36 ch. Read free → - 04
On the Unity of the Church Liber de Unitate Ecclesiae
Cyprian's landmark defense of one undivided Church, written to answer the schisms that split Carthage after the Decian persecution.
26 ch. Read free → - 05
On the Lord's Prayer Liber de Oratione Dominica
Cyprian's clause-by-clause meditation on the Our Father, written to teach the Church not just what to pray but how.
36 ch. Read free → - 06
To Demetrian Liber ad Demetrianum
Cyprian answers a Roman official who blamed Christians for the wars, plagues, and droughts battering a world he says is simply growing old.
25 ch. Read free → - 07
On the Vanity of Idols Liber de Idolorum Vanitate
Cyprian argues that the gods of Rome were once mortal men, then turns to Christ as the one true God.
15 ch. Read free → - 08
On Mortality Liber de Mortalitate
Cyprian's counsel to a plague-stricken Carthage: death is not to be feared, but welcomed as the doorway to Christ.
26 ch. Read free → - 09
Works and Almsgiving Liber de Opere et Eleemosynis
Cyprian's case that almsgiving is the God-given remedy for the sins Christians go on committing after baptism.
26 ch. Read free → - 10
On the Advantage of Patience Liber de Bono Patientiae
Cyprian traces patience from the nature of God through Christ's Passion to the trials of ordinary Christian life, and its opposite, impatience, back to the fall of the devil.
24 ch. Read free → - 11
On Jealousy and Envy Liber de Zelo et Livore
Cyprian traces envy back to the devil's own fall and through Cain, Esau, and Saul to expose its power to divide bishops, priests, and brothers in his own Church.
18 ch. Read free → - 12
Exhortation to Martyrdom, Addressed to Fortunatus Epistola ad Fortunatum de Exhortatione Martyrii
Cyprian arms a fellow bishop and his flock for martyrdom with a curated arsenal of Scripture, built around his teaching of the "baptism of blood."
14 ch. Read free → - 13
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews Ad Quirinum Testimoniorum Libri Tres Adversus Judaeos
A three-book digest of Scripture proof-texts compiled for a young Christian named Quirinus, moving from the Church's replacement of Israel to the identity of Christ to the daily conduct of a believer's life.
175 ch. Read free → - 14
On the Public Shows Liber de Spectaculis
Cyprian's short, blistering case against the circus, the theater, and the arena as schools of idolatry and vice.
10 ch. Read free → - 15
In Praise of Martyrdom Liber de Laude Martyrii
A soaring, highly rhetorical exhortation to martyrdom, traditionally bound with Cyprian's writings though probably not from his own hand.
30 ch. Read free → - 16
On the Discipline and Advantage of Chastity Liber de Disciplina et Bono Pudicitiae
An absentee bishop's address ranking the chastity of virgins, the continent, and the married, illustrated by the examples of Joseph and Susanna.
14 ch. Read free → - 17
On Dice-Players Liber de Aleatoribus
A bishop's pastoral letter condemning Christian gamblers, tracing the dice-board to a pagan cult of its supposed human inventor and demanding they be barred from the sacraments.
11 ch. Read free → - 18
On the Singleness of Clerics De Singularitate Clericorum
An anonymous, sharply argued letter urging clerics to give up housing women under their own roof.
85 min Read free → - 19
The Twelve Abuses of the World De Duodecim Abusionibus Saeculi
A catalogue of twelve failed roles, from the wise man without works to the people without law, each measured against its proper duty.
12 ch. Read free → - 20
On the Two Kinds of Martyrdom Liber de Duplici Martyrio ad Fortunatum
A treatise distinguishing the bloody martyrdom of persecution from the hidden, daily martyrdom of resisting sin, long printed among Cyprian's works but of disputed authorship.
40 ch. Read free → - 21
Prayer of Cyprian of Antioch for the Martyrs Oratio Cypriani Antiocheni Pro Martyribus
A fervent invocation asking God to shield the faithful facing martyrdom, calling on the same power that rescued Daniel, Tobias, and Peter from the waves.
3 min Read free → - 22
The Prayer of Cyprian of Antioch on the Day of His Passion Oratio Cypriani Antiocheni Quam Sub Die Passionis Suae Dixit
A litany-prayer attributed to Cyprian of Antioch, recited on the day of his martyrdom, that calls on God through a sweeping roll-call of biblical deliverances.
6 min Read free → - 23
On the Mountains Sina and Sion De Montibus Sina et Sion
An anonymous allegory reads the Hebrew names of Sinai and Sion as figures for the Old and New Testaments, tracing the cross through Genesis, the Psalms, and the Prophets.
15 ch. Read free → - 24
Against the Jews, Who Persecuted Our Lord Jesus Christ Tractatus adversus Judaeos qui insecuti sunt Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum
A fiery, scripture-woven indictment of Israel's rejection of the prophets and of Christ, paired with an invitation to salvation extended freely to the Gentiles.
10 ch. Read free → - 25
The Supper of Cyprian Coena Cypriani
A playful cento that seats the whole of biblical history at one wedding banquet, giving Adam, Eve, Jesus, and hundreds of others a seat, a dish, and a fate.
11 min Read free → - 26
On the Finding of the Head of the Blessed John the Baptist De revelatione capitis beati Joannis Baptistae
A legend of relics, visions, and battlefield miracles tracing the head of John the Baptist from Herod's court to a monastery in Aquitaine.
9 ch. Read free → - 27
On the Paschal Computation De Pascha Computus
The oldest surviving Latin treatise on calculating the date of Easter, pairing a sixteen-year lunar table with a numerological chronology stretching from Exodus to Christ.
49 min Read free →
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