The Patrologia Latina · Volume VI
Lactantius
Volume 6 belongs to Lactantius, the "Christian Cicero": the seven books of the Divine Institutes — the first systematic presentation of Christianity in Latin, written through the Great Persecution and dedicated to Constantine — with his own Epitome and the documents of the church’s first imperial decade. We are translating every one into English.
About this volume
The Christian Cicero
Lactantius taught Latin rhetoric at Diocletian’s court in Nicomedia and was living there in 303 AD when the Great Persecution began. His answer was the Divine Institutes: seven books, written around 303 to 311 AD, that set out the whole Christian case — against the pagan gods, against the philosophers, for true wisdom, justice, worship, and the happy life — in prose polished enough that the Renaissance called him the Christian Cicero. He later condensed the whole into an Epitome for his brother Pentadius. Both are here.
Around them stand the small documents of the years the persecution ended: Constantine’s letter asking Pope Miltiades to hear the Donatist dispute, Miltiades’ one-sentence verdict, the fragment of Rheticius of Autun who sat at that hearing, verse epitaphs for the popes of the persecution years, an early Gallic hymn in Christ’s praise, and the forged acts of the Synod of Sinuessa — presented as what they are.
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
The Divine Institutes
Divinae Institutiones
Seven books that first presented Christianity as a complete system, written while the persecution still burned.
Read →The short course
Epitome of the Divine Institutes
Epitome Divinarum Institutionum
Lactantius’ own condensation of the seven books — the whole argument in an evening.
Read →The turning point
Letter to Pope Miltiades
Epistola ad Melchiadem
A Roman emperor asks the bishop of Rome to judge a church dispute — the first document of its kind, from 313 AD.
Read →The contents
10 works
Each is a fresh English translation from the Latin, free to read online, in the order Migne printed them.
- 01
The Acts of the Synod of Sinuessa Synodi Sinuessanae Gesta
A forged conciliar record staging Pope Marcellinus's trial for offering incense — inventing the maxim that the first see is judged by no one.
10 min Read free → - 02
Poem on Saint Marcellus the Martyr Carmen de Sancto Marcello Martyre
A verse epitaph by Pope Damasus I on his predecessor Marcellus, exiled for demanding penance from Christians who lapsed under persecution.
1 min Read free → - 03
Epigram on Saint Eusebius Epigramma de S. Eusebio
A brief epigram honoring Pope Eusebius, exiled to Sicily after a bloody dispute over readmitting the lapsed to the Church around 308 AD.
1 min Read free → - 04
Letter to Pope Miltiades Epistola ad Melchiadem
Constantine's own letter ordering Rome to convene the hearing that would decide the Donatist schism.
2 min Read free → - 05
The Sentence of Pope Miltiades on the Case of Caecilian Sententia de Caeciliani Causa
The one-sentence ruling by which the bishop of Rome acquitted Caecilian of Carthage and ended the first round of the Donatist dispute.
1 min Read free → - 06
A Saying on Baptism Dictum de Baptismo
The single surviving sentence of the Gallic bishop who judged the Donatist dispute at Rome, on baptism as the Church's supreme forgiveness.
1 min Read free → - 07
Poem on the Praises of the Lord Carmen de Laudibus Domini
A Gallic Christian poet weaves a married couple's tomb miracle into a hexameter hymn praising Christ's creation, incarnation, and power over death, closing with a prayer for Constantine.
8 min Read free → - 08
Preface to the Altercation of Jason and Papiscus Praefatio in Altercationem Jasonis et Papisci
The preface to a lost dialogue in which a Jewish debater is won over to faith in Christ, addressed to a bishop awaiting martyrdom.
19 min Read free → - 09
The Divine Institutes Divinarum Institutionum Libri Septem
A seven-book case for Christianity addressed to Constantine, built by turning the poets and philosophers of Greece and Rome against their own gods.
180 ch. Read free → - 10
Epitome of the Divine Institutes Epitome Divinarum Institutionum
Lactantius's own condensation of his seven-book Divine Institutes, tracing the case against the pagan gods and philosophers through to the last judgment and the reign of Christ.
69 ch. Read free →
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