Letter 151: Part of the papal correspondence surrounding the Acacian Schism (484-519), the major breach between Rome and...

From Emperor Justin to Pope Hormisdas. [Editorial summary:] By the letter of the Synod of Constantinople on behalf of the peace of the churches, the emperor himself adds his own request to that which was sought, through Gratus, count of the sacred consistory, and he invites Hormisdas to appoint legates on account of this business. Justin Augustus to Pope Hormisdas. John, that most blessed man, the bishop of this royal city, and the other religious men, the bishops gathered here from various places and cities, have informed our serenity that, for the concord of those who cultivate the true and orthodox faith, and for the unity of his venerable churches, they have composed a letter to be offered to your holiness, and they have earnestly requested that our epistolary pages also be sent forth to it concerning this matter. Having gladly embraced their petitions, inasmuch as we have ever been established as lovers of unity, we have judged that these divine writings should be dispatched to your beatitude. By these writings, may you deign to come to the aid of the desires of the aforesaid most reverend bishops, and, for us and for the commonwealth, the governance of which has been entrusted from heaven to our piety, to appease the supreme majesty with your prayers. And in order that the rights of your holiness's peace and imitation and concord may be more fully made manifest, may you arrange that certain most religious priests, who embrace and desire peace, come to our most sacred court. For it is on this account that we have dispatched the most illustrious man Gratus, count of our sacred consistory and master of the bureau of memory, whose excellent reputation we have known as familiar in many earlier times. Given on the seventh day before the Ides of September at Constantinople, in the consulship of the most illustrious man Magnus. [Editorial footnotes:] [On the emperor's accession:] With [Anastasius] carried off by a sudden death on the 9th day, according to the Alexandrian chronicle [Justin] was proclaimed emperor on the 9th day of July, since, as Theodore Lector attests on page 565, having begun from military service he had advanced all the way to the senatorial order, and in all his life had stood out as distinguished. Evagrius, Ecclesiastical History IV, 2, writes that he received a very great sum of money from the eunuch Amantius, in order to procure the imperial crown for a certain Theocritus, and that with this money he purchased for himself either the votes of the people or the goodwill of the excubitors [imperial guards]. But if this is so, these words of Justin can scarcely be cleared of falsehood. Yet Theophanes, on pages 141 and 142, narrates the same matter in such a way that what Justin here asserts may be composed and reconciled with his account. That this sacred [letter] was carried by Alexander, a most distinguished man, is gathered from Hormisdas's letter 45 written in reply to it. [On 'of the royal city':] (b) [reads] 'of the royal see.' [On 'for the unity':] (b) [reads] 'and for the universality': erroneously. These letters of the bishops are not extant, unless perhaps the following letter is here being noted, which John dispatched in his own name. [On 'established':] Baronius struck out the word 'established.' Theodore Lector confirms on page 605 this testimony of Justin about himself. For by his attestation this emperor, even before he took up the rule of the empire, was a most ardent devotee of the right faith. [On 'bureau':] (year 518) [reads] 'bureau.'

Justini imperatoris ad Hormisdam papam. ii. oisd. 7Sept. 110. Synodi Constantinopolitanae litteris pro ecclesiarum pace ipse imperaior id peti- tug per Graium sacri consistorii comitem suas adjujigit, utque Hormisda propter hoc negotium legatos destinet, invitat. Justinus Augustus Hormisdae papae. Johannes vir beatissimus, hujus regiae^) urbis antistes, et ce- teri viri religiosi episcopi de diversis locis et civitatibus hic reperti, nostram serenitatem docuerunt, pro concordia veram et orthodoxam fidem colentium proque^) unitate venerabilium ejus ecclesiarum lit- teras tuae sanctitati offerendas confecisse, ac magnopere postula- runt, nostras etiam epistolares paginas super hoc ad eam emanare. Quorum petitiones, utpote semper unitatis amatores constituti ^), libenter amplexi, hos divinos apices ad tuam beatitudinem censui- mus prorogandos. Quibus scriptis, desideriis supradictorum reveren- dissimorum antistitum subvenire, proque nobis et republica, cujus gubernatio nostrae pietati coelitus credita est, supernam majestatem suis orationibus placare dignetur. Ut autem tuae sanctitatis pacis et imitatis atque concordiae jura plenius patefiant, quosdam religio- sissimos sacerdotes pacem amplectentes et deaiderantes ad sacratis- simiun nostrum pervenire disponat comitatum. Ob hanc enim cau- sam Gratum virum clarissimum sacri nostri consistorii comitem et die 9 repentina morte sublato, secundiim chronicon Alexandrinimi Julii 9 die im- perator renuntiatus est, quum teste Theodoro lectore pag. 565 a militia exorsus ad senatorium usque ordinem pervenisset, et in onmi vita egregius exstitisset. Evagrius h. e. IV, 2 scribit, eum summam pecuniae vim ab Amantio eunucho, ut Theocrito cuidam coronam imperialem conciliaret, accepisse, eaque pecunia sibimet seu populi suffragia seu excubitorum benevoleiitiam redemisse. Quodsi ita est, haec Justini dicta aegre a mendacio purgentur. Sed rem eamdem ita narrat Theophanes pag. 141 et 142, ut quae hic asserit Justinus, cum ejus narratione componere ac conciliare liceat. Hanc sacram per Alexandrum v. c. perlatam eese, ex Hormisdae epistola 45 huic rescripta colligitur. 42 *) b regiae sedis, •) b proque universitate : mendose. Non exstant hae episcoporum litterae, niai forte hic notetur sequens epistola, quam Johannes proprio nomine de- stinavit. ') Verbum constituti Bar. expunxit. Hoc Justini de se testimonium Theo- dorus lector pag. 605 confirmat. Eo quippe teste is imperator prius etiam, quam impeni regimcn susciperet, rectae fidei cultor erat ardentissimus. .\ a. 518. magistrum scrinii*) memoriae direximus, cujus praeclaram opinio- nem multis antea notam habemus temporibus. Data VII Jdos Se- ptembris Constantinopoli, Magno viro clarissimo consule.